Tales From the Cutting Room Floor: Naruto
by EdStargazer
Summary: Small snippets of stories that never made it past concept stage. Most ended up inspiriing other works but now revealed to the public. Update 09/11/2012 One new snippet, 'Kidnapped'
1. Introduction

The writing process goes through a good many false beginnings before a story idea can take hold in the imagination and grow into a true work. I had many ideas that never got past the 'get the seed idea written down' stage. A few got past that into actual writing before the idea petered out.

A good many of these ideas had been written in the year before I began posting 'The Will Born in Fire'. Many ideas in them I used in later works like 'The Lost Ninja' which pulled a majority of two of them into one story.

Those ideas on the cutting room floor are now open for viewing. Of course, like any good DVD extra, there will be some commentary attached. These story beginnings are only edited to ease reading but are otherwise as I had left them in the 'Suspended' folder of my flash drive. Most ideas are open for adoption should anyone feel the need to continue them but I have gone about as far with them as I care to.

My only purpose here is not to write more stories but to put to rest the desire to share these orphan snippets with others.


	2. Blacksmith

**This seed idea actually nearly became a story. I hated the banishment stories but I felt compelled to write one in my own style. In the end, this Blacksmith concept story was reborn into the story, 'The Lost Ninja'. The difficulty in a banishment fic is that you need to have a realistic reason to get Naruto out of the village.**

Curse form level 2 Sasuke glared across the waterfall at the Kyuubi cloaked Naruto. Both boys were beyond reasoning with as their power drove them onwards. Each readied his most powerful attack and leap into battle once more. Chidori met Rasengan in an explosion of light and power. Naruto kept pushing forward intent on scratching Sasuke's headband after the dark haired boy's taunt that Naruto would never touch it. Sasuke's talons tore into the flesh of Naruto's shoulder jarring the blonde's strike causing it to slice 2 inches lower. Both boys reverted to their normal forms as they fell to the ground.

The rain began falling as Kakashi and Pakkun entered the valley and headed for the base of the waterfall. Naruto lay motionless on the ground with Sasuke's unblemished forehead protector beside him.

"It's Sasuke's" Pakkun confirmed to Kakashi "But there is something else. A splash of Sasuke's blood is on the front of Naruto's jacket and I smell more blood in the air. His scent heads toward the Uchiha Madara statue." Pakkun followed the traces of blood around the base of the carved statue to find Sasuke crumpled behind it. The boy was sitting with his back against the statue, knees up against his chest and head down on folded arms atop the knees. Kakashi came at the pug's insistence and tried to get Sasuke's attention.

Slowly, the Uchiha boy raised his head. Kakashi and Pakkun both were stunned by the sight of blood and gore dripping from Sasuke's shredded eyes.

24 hours later

An exhausted Tsunade came out of surgery as nurses rolled the gurney. The still form of Naruto lay on it. Shizune followed after Tsunade as Naruto was wheeled towards the recovery room. "Twelve straight hours of surgery. Good thing Naruto was only a simple patch job. The sutures should hold up until that gash in his shoulder heals up. I did not like that area on his chest that looked freshly healed. It looks like lighter than the rest and I could swear it looks like it had never had sun on it. If Naruto scarred then I could tell more but his guest doesn't just heal him, it regenerates his wounds when the red chakra is in his system. When my scanning jutsu went over that area, it reacted like brand new tissues."

"We will just have to ask when he wakes up, Tsunade-sama." Shizune replied "For now, all of the people want to know how things went with both Naruto and Sasuke." Tsunade nodded slowly and headed towards the waiting room where the remains of 4 genin teams were waiting for word on their injured friends.

In the waiting room, 4 jounin senseis, 6 Konoha genin and the Sand siblings looked up as Tsunade entered. "Well, the good news is, everyone will live." Tsunade noted sighs of relief as many tried to ask questions at once. She held up her hand for silence. "I can tell you what I know for now. Shikamaru here was the least hurt with a simple broken finger. Kiba has a stab wound to the stomach that responded well to treatment and he should recover completely. Neji is suffering from both the severe wound to his shoulder and chakra exhaustion. His condition remains guarded for now and his recovery depends more on how fast his chakra recovers. Choji has lost an extreme amount of weight due to his family pills and will be several weeks recovering."

Tsunade sighed. "Those were the easy ones. Naruto is suffering from chakra exhaustion and several major wounds he suffered battling Sasuke trying to prevent the Uchiha from defecting to Sound and Orochimaru. He is expected to make a full recovery like he always seems to do."

"Uchiha Sasuke suffered several minor wounds to his body and limbs in the battle with Naruto. All of those are repairable. However, it seems the final blow Naruto hit him with before being knocked out by his own wounds will be permanent. Sasuke was apparently raked across the face with a kunai or other sharp weapon. It struck his left eye and traveled across the bridge of his nose to his right eye. The right eye was totally destroyed and could not be salvaged. The left eye was repaired to the best of my ability but any use it will have will be minimal at best."

"What … what does that mean Tsunade-sama?" Sakura asked as tears began streaming down her face.

"It means that Sasuke will no longer have a Sharingan. His left eye was badly damaged and even my best is not enough to restore that eye completely. Barring a transplant; for all intents and purposes, Uchiha Sasuke is blinded for life."

Tsunade simply turned to go rest in the silence that followed her statements. Soon afterward the sound of weeping was heard as Sakura broke down.

* * *

Naruto looked at the small pile of get well cards his friends had left for him. He was still recovering in the hospital after the retrieval of Sasuke. The strain of his battle had left his own chakra depleted enough that Tsunade had ordered a week of supervised bed rest with no visitors for the young genin. He did not really mind the rest as he was still worn out from the battle but he could not bear a lack of visitors. His one attempt at getting out had led the Slug Princess to post an ANBU guard outside the room to keep people out as well as leave a summoned slug outside his window. If he so much as left his room he would be paralyzed by slug spittle. He could only sit waiting for what was to come next.

The village as a whole had become aware of the condition of their Uchiha and each day a crowd gathered to try to get into the hospital to get at Naruto. Older residents were taking the situation in mixed terms. Some held that Naruto has always been a menace and should be 'put down'. Others pointed to the recent Sound attack and the heroism of the boy during it as a sign of his loyalty and strength. Experienced ninja knew that accidents happened and if Naruto was truly what the civilians thought he was, the Uchiha would simply be dead. Rumors flew faster and thicker than facts. All that anyone knew for certain was that the Uchiha was blinded, the Sharingan was lost to this generation and that Naruto had done it.

* * *

The Konoha clan council was discussing recommendations on Naruto's future and things were locked in a debate. Several minor clans and major families had pushed for his outright imprisonment for his own admission to attacking the sole Uchiha with a deadly technique. One merchant who called for a death penalty was quietly escorted out of the building after his own life was threatened.

A small group lead by the major clans of Nara, Aburame, and Akimichi along with most of the families of Naruto's 'Rookie 9' classmates was preventing the situation from coming to a solid vote. They correctly pointed out that the Uchiha was attempting to defect. The boy was still alive so his bloodline could continue in future generations. The supporters of Naruto were badly outnumbered and they knew that once the daimyo's representative arrived in the morning then things would be over for the young genin. The Hyuuga merely said that discussing the fate of a single genin in a clan council was beneath them and said to call them in when real business needed attending. Most took the Hyuuga stance as a tactic to merely stall until they knew how Neji's condition would end up.

When talk shifted away from imprisonment and to merely banishing the boy from Konoha, more people became agreeable to the idea. Still lacking the votes to call for a final decision, the council adjourned for the evening with a decision to wait for the daimyo message and vote in the morning on the final disposition of the matter.

The clan council was called to order the following morning. As the business of Naruto was brought up, Tsunade strode into the chamber carrying a pair of scrolls. "It seems that your decisions regarding Uzumaki Naruto are moot. The boy has resigned as a ninja of Konoha and left the village early this morning."

The various members of the council opposed to Naruto roared out in anger. "We did not approve such a thing! The boy is now a missing nin! We can have him hunted down and executed!"

"SILENCE!" Tsunade yelled in response. "Naruto invoked the law himself on this matter. It is in accordance with laws passed by previous Hokage and accepted by clan council that any genin who has attempted and failed to progress to chunin may resign their status as a ninja of Konoha with no repercussions and no permission within 3 months of the final exam date. His letter was delivered to my office this morning by an ANBU. He is gone and now beyond your official powers."

"By an ANBU? Why would an ANBU deliver something as simple as a resignation letter?" asked the Akimichi representative.

"It was the manner it was delivered. At the south gate this morning, the guards suddenly found a kunai imbedded in the door. It was stabbed thru a Konoha forehead protector and hanging from the ring was this scroll. The guards called ANBU to investigate. Once it was determined to be simply paper, the ANBU took hold of it and a voice above him said 'Arigato, now I can leave legally and without malice.' The guards and ANBU looked up to see Naruto leave over top the gate and disappear. As an ANBU is an official deputy of Konoha, once he touched the paper it became a legal document delivered to an agent of the Hokage." Tsunade sneered at the council members "It seems that Naruto is a lot more intelligent than you people ever gave him credit for."

"The other scroll is a message from the daimyo of the Fire Country. It reads, 'I am given to understand that Uzumaki Naruto was acting under the legal orders of his leader, the Hokage Tsunade, to apprehend the runaway ninja Uchiha Sasuke at all costs. My legal counsels tell me there are 2 important points in this case. First, that a ninja who flees is to be detained 'by any means necessary'. Second, a ninja who acts in accordance with an order of their superior cannot be held accountable for any outcome surrounding those acts. Also, Uzumaki prevented the Sharingan blood limit from falling into the possession of an enemy state that recently threatened my own life at the recent Chunnin Exam Tournament. My judgment in this case is that Uzumaki Naruto be cleared from any wrong doing and released from any blame in the matter of Uchiha Sasuke. I also find that the blinding of Uchiha Sasuke is an adequate punishment for his betrayal. Signed, Shijimi, Daimyo, Fire Country."

Then Tsunade turned and left the chamber.

* * *

Sakura resigned as a ninja and spent her time caring for the Uchiha; she rarely spoke to anyone, spending most of her days cloistered in the Uchiha district with Sasuke. For Sasuke, he refused to venture out and also refused to have his eyes replaced. Most saw it as a great loss that the boy would just wallow in depression and a greater one that such a promising kunoichi should remain by his side but all agreed it was their own choice and left them alone.

The kunai in the South Gate remained imbedded in the door for years. No jutsu could touch it and no one was able to physically budge it. The forehead protector melted off after several fire jutsu attempts but the kunai merely turned pink from the heat. It served as a reminder to all who passed of the ninja who placed it there. The members of the 'Konoha 9' as Naruto's remaining friends came to be called would touch the kunai each time they passed thru the south gate. Eventually, the clan council paid a huge sum to have the entire door replaced. It became a large joke that the kunai simply fell out as the old door was being hauled off to the scrap yard. In the end, the kunai had become the last prank by Naruto.

* * *

Five years passed.

In a small farm village near Konoha opened a blacksmith who intended to make weapons and crafted metal items. He bought the place from an old man who wanted to retire. The new smith already wore a hood over his head that kept his face covered and all that could be seen were his piercing but sad blue eyes. The man never spoke to anyone. He had a young teenage girl with him that dealt with customers.

At first the place had little notice until a poor Academy ninja born in that farming community happened upon it. For a small price, the smith provided the young girl with kunai that did not break under normal use. Other students soon learned of this and word of mouth brought more business to the blacksmith. Once business increased the blacksmith made it known that if any customer who provided him with a jutsu scroll of a level appropriate to the ninja's rank would receive a half price discount. The only conditions on this were that the scroll had to be hand written by the ninja he was dealing with and that no family, secret or forbidden jutsu would be accepted

No smith within Konoha could duplicate the blacksmith's work and eventually ANBU was sent to investigate. They found nothing more than high quality steel alloy that was very durable. Investigations of the smith were not so easily done but after a brief meeting with the Hokage, she pronounced him as cleared and told ANBU to 'leave the man alone'. Several months later and an incident with a scruffy missing nin lead to a small sign being placed in the window, 'Only honest customers allowed, all others will be executed'. Most took the sign as a joke but after several more missing nin bodies appeared in front of the shop for hunter nins to remove, people took the warning seriously. Eventually, jonin teachers and even ANBU began to frequent the shop. The council tried to hire the man as the local in village weapon smiths lost business but they were rebuffed with a firm 'No'. The blacksmith would only meet with people who wished for the half price to accept the scrolls. He never gave his name to those he would meet and simply became known as Blacksmith.

Three years after the Blacksmith moved in, the Sound invaded Konoha for a second time.

* * *

Blacksmith set the metal he was working into the fire pit. He pulled his bandana off his shaggy blonde hair and sat on the bench next to the forge. The last of the order was almost done and then he could sleep. He decided on a drink before he finished this last bit. Pulling his hood up over his head, he stepped outside into the cool night air. 'Wow, its getting close to dawn. I have been at this all night again. I really need to either hire someone or cut back on the orders I take.' He chuckled as he pulled the dipper out of the bucket he kept outside the door. As he drank he noticed the sounds of the forest around his forge grow quiet. 'Someone is moving out there, a lot of 'someones' for it to get this quiet'. A kunai sped out of the darkness at his legs but Blacksmith dodged to the side. A figure was following the thrown dagger. The dark figure thrust a kunai at Blacksmith's chest but the knife bent on contact with his forge coat. Blacksmith swung his arm at the head of the figure attacking him and connected, the snap of the vertebrae sounding in the night. Growling under his breath, Blacksmith knew something dire was happening if he was being attacked. 'Only a genin, but why send just a genin after me? That means they do not know me and this is part of something larger.' Blacksmith stood still until the bugs in his garden began to trill again. 'No one else nearby.' He focused for a moment then pulled off his forge coat. The coat made a thump as it hit the ground. Blacksmith reached back inside his forge and grabbed a standard ninja fanny pack and hooked it to his belt. He then moved off so quickly that the bugs in his garden never noticed his passage.

'Blood in the air. Nearby too.' He thought as the man moved thru the trees and got closer to Konoha. He closed in on the smell and found a patrol of Konoha ninja dead on the forest floor. 'No one I know' was his only thought as he moved past the carnage. Now sounds of whimpering captives caught his attention as the wind shifted slightly. Veering off to investigate he also caught the sounds of a summon chant. 'Damn, someone without a contract is summoning something big and needs sacrifices for it. This close to Konoha that can only mean a war is about to start.' Blacksmith made a single hand sign and henged into one of the killed ninja.

The farmer hugged his wife and children close to him. Hours earlier, strange ninja had captured them as they slept. The family had been dragged here along with many of his neighbors. Enemies surrounded them and the ones chanting frightened him the most. He knew something bad was coming but tried to distract his smallest child by humming a soft tune to her. His eyes kept looking around the clearing as a sudden fog appeared, blinding him. He then heard voices calling out in confusion and then silence. The fog disappeared as fast as it had come and the farmer saw two Konoha ANBU standing amid the bodies of his captors. One talked in a low voice to the people, "Follow my partner here to safety. You will be taken care of." Several farmers tried to thank the man who spoke but he vanished in a swirl of leaves. The second man spoke in a similar voice as the first and led the people off to safety.

Blacksmith dropped the henge of an ANBU as he hurried thru the forest, getting closer to the walls of Konoha. Suddenly, he came upon a squad of enemies. One had a Sound symbol on his forehead protector and growling again, Blacksmith attacked the squad. He struck silently from the shadows, never speaking to the foreign ninja. Kunai and shuriken took out the all but one as the weapon forger landed a kick to the back of the last one, breaking his spine at the waist.

Blacksmith lifted the broken ninja by his shirt, poked a nerve cluster on the neck of the Sound ninja to block the pain and whispered into his ear "What is your attack plan? What is your mission here?" The Sound ninja tried to shout but was silenced by Blacksmith who merely snapped the man's neck. Shouts came from nearby as the bodies at the summon site were discovered. Blacksmith cursed and gathered up the weapons he had thrown from the bodies of the dead Sound ninja. Pulling a pair of explosive tags and some wire out of his pouch he set a quick trap under the body of the one he tried to question.

He took to the trees to hide as a new group landed amid the dead. A tug on the wire activated the tags as Blacksmith fled without seeing the damage his explosion created. 'I have been lucky so far. No elite jounin yet. I cannot take the time to deal with a curse marked enemy right now. Sorry Konoha but about 30 enemies down and a large summon prevented is the best I can do for you tonight. My neighbors and those I already saved need protection as well.' Blacksmith heard the sounds of battle in the distance but they grew silent as he ran back to his own small village.

Chapter 4

Tsunade looked at the casualty list from the Sound attack. It had been lighter than she had feared it would be when the alarm had been sounded. It seems one front of the attack had been badly disrupted before it could even engage Konoha. The ANBU were investigating that area now. A pair of large explosions had been reported in that area and a patrol from there was missing so Tsunade assumed that was the reason. The lack of force in that part of the perimeter had allowed the defense to shift to cover the heavier areas in greater force. Tsunade did not want to think what might have happened had those men been forced to remain where they originally had been. The flank attack had totally routed the enemy and a massive kill ratio ensued. Nearly 400 Sound ninja had died within the walls to about 100 Konoha ninja killed and wounded. Civilian casualties inside the walls had been lighter than that. The wall had been breached near the mostly abandoned Uchiha estate and heavily damaged that area. 'If I could laugh at that without disrespecting those who died I would. The Uchiha clan grounds should have been brought down years ago but we never have had a good enough reason to. Even with Sasuke and Sakura living there, the place is a blight on Konoha.'

"Hokage-sama, the initial report from outside the west gate is in. The missing patrol was found dead, all their weapons intact and in place. They had been ambushed completely by the Sound and killed. Local farms show signs of being raided and struggles taken place like in the other sectors but at the summon point we found many Sound corpses instead of dead civilians. The source of the explosion noted by the wall security shows additional Sound dead but no friendly forces there. The search area is being widened there and we should have more information soon." Tsunade nodded at his report. "I think I have an idea of what might have happened. Shizune, send as message to ANBU headquarters. Tell them to have Team Shadow go to the farm village about a mile out the west gate and ASK the man known as Blacksmith to come see me. No force is to be used if he will not come but tell him it is a personal request of the Hokage." "Yes, Tsunade-sama.". Tsunade turned her attention to other reports coming in and prepared to brief the council.

ANBU Team Shadow approached the Blacksmith's forge cautiously. A girl's voice called out to them "Is it safe then? Is the battle over?"

"Yes, the battle is won and the Hokage has personally asked for the man called Blacksmith who is supposed to live here to come see her."

"Good, these people in my basement are driving me nuts." A minute later a stream of civilians came out of a side door to the forge. Many bowed to the Konoha ninja as they hurried off to see what damage had been done to their farms and fields. The man called Blacksmith was followed out by his assistant who proceeded to smack him on the side of his head. "Pick up your forge coat and put it away. You know I cannot lift that heavy thing."

The leader of the team chuckled softly and you could hear him mutter, "Troublesome."

The girl yelled at Blacksmith, "Hold on a minute, I want you to get these bodies out of here first. " Blacksmith carried out the dead Sound ninja from the night before and laid several corpses before the ANBU.

"This one was trying to 'collect' civilians last night. The other 3 came by later on. Lucky I am not as weak as they had planned on." The girl by the door was trying to budge the coat that was blocking the main door and barely moving it. Blacksmith went over and lifted it like it weighed nothing and slung it over his shoulder.

The girl poked the much taller man in the chest. "I ought to …" and she merely went inside.

Blacksmith turned and told the team in a muffled voice, "I will be about 5 minutes then come with you." The team began to incinerate the Sound ninja bodies and they could hear the man talking to the girl inside the forge. A few minutes later he came out and began to walk down the road to Konoha.

The trip to Konoha was made in silence. Blacksmith paused at the gate and looked from side to side. One of the gate guards was motioning him to sign in but Blacksmith merely turned to the ANBU. "Do I have permission to enter freely? I have no desire to be put thru their processing"

"Yes, Blacksmith-san. The Hokage has personally requested your presence. That overrides the process here as long as you remain escorted."

Blacksmith nodded and continued walking, heading directly to the tower.

Shizune saw the hooded form of the Blacksmith for the first time. All she could tell about the man is he stood close to 6 ft tall and looked very muscular. He had very little chakra presence and his face remained concealed inside of his hood. Still, the man nodded in acknowledgement of Shizune as he entered Tsunade's office.

"I am told you wanted to see me, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade was not in a good mood and glared over at the man. "Cut the polite bullshit. What the hell happened out near your forge last night, Naruto?"

The ANBU standing behind the hooded man were stunned as the man pulled his hood off, revealing the bright blonde hair and whiskered face of Naruto.

"Only taking care of things and protecting myself, Baa-chan"

Chapter 5

Naruto quickly explained "I was in my forge finishing up an order and took a break when a Sound genin attacked me. I killed him with no fuss. I had noticed something going on so I investigated and found a dead Konoha patrol nearby. A short distance closer to the walls here I found a large group doing a summon and apparently they were planning to sacrifice a number of locals and my neighbors for it. I called up a mist and took them out with shadow clones.

Before I dispersed the mist I transformed to look like an ANBU along with a single shadow clone. I figured all the civilians would listen to an ANBU before they listened to a blacksmith. The clone led them off to my forge for safety. I then found a Sound squad, killed all but one and tried to get some info but he resisted and cried out for help so I had to kill him. I trapped the area with explosive tags and detonated them when another squad arrived. I then bugged out to protect my neighbors back at the forge. I had figured about 30 enemies less to fight would help Konoha and some of the people that I saved were friends who needed help."

Tsunade nodded slowly at Naruto's report. "It seems you have kept in good practice in the years since you resigned Naruto. Your aid allowed us to rout the attempted attack by freeing up the defenders from that section of the wall. Now, when I talked to you a couple of years back in your shop, you said you would explain what happened later. I have given you time now spill."

Naruto sighed and thought for a moment. "Well, you remember how the council idiots were going to banish me? I knew about the resign law because someone had mentioned it to Fuzzy Brows. I figured that if I was banished, I could never have a chance at making Hokage. But if I resigned, I could come back at a later time. I waited for the ANBU to get the paper before I left the village so I would not be a missing nin before it became official. I was not sure what to do next so I just went to the capital of the Land of Fire. I knew I was still a citizen of that so there would be no problem."

"I ran out of money fairly quickly there and I tried to sell my shuriken and kunai to a blacksmith. He noticed the arm and leg weights I was still using and talked to me for a while. I told him I was a resigned ninja from Konoha, not a missing one. He accepted that and said he needed help with odd jobs around his forge and might make me an apprentice if I worked out. Within a few months he was teaching me his craft. I used shadow clones to do the drudgework around the place and when one fell off the roof while repairing it I discovered that I would learn what one experienced. The blacksmith then got the idea to set up multiple forges and run them almost continuously with me using shadow clones. I would gain experience and improve much faster at the trade that way. In exchange for the extra work I was doing, he taught me his family secrets for making better quality steel."

"Over the next few years, I learned how to make everything from pots and pans to weapons. We both made out well off the arrangement. By using the shadow clones I got the equivalent of 25 years experience as a blacksmith in only 5 years. All the extra labor had allowed him to take up a few large contracts that paid off really well and I got a percentage of each. I saved my money and kept getting better. But he died shortly before I came back to this area. He was old and had no family except me.

Once he died, all his contracts died with him. No one would give an 18 yr old a chance at them so I decided it would be best to leave. I was homesick for my old friends but I did not want to return to Konoha as a ninja with the council still against me. I knew from other smiths that the old man in the nearby village was looking to move so I arranged to buy him out. I moved in and you know the rest. I made better stuff and sold it at a reasonable price. I made the policy of the jutsu scrolls so that I could add to my own training. You saw me then and approved of that. Nothing else to tell until last night."

"Naruto, I really should pound you right now but I can't because you're technically a civilian."

"You could try but I think you would need more than 1 finger this time. Well, now that Shikamaru behind me knows who I am, will I be getting a lot of visits from the old gang? Them I do not mind but I am more worried about the villagers who are too stupid to let the past stay there. That is the reason I have kept my identity a secret. Also the morons on the clan council will likely make trouble for me as well."

Tsunade chuckled. "Not just for the fact that you are around here, Naruto. The fact is you killed nearly 3 dozen men and women last night and you are officially a civilian. That action alone carries the death penalty."

Naruto looked back at Tsunade with a hard glint in his eye. "I would not lay down for those bastards on the council 8 years ago and I will not do so now. I'll leave before that happens and I'll take down anyone who tries to stop me."

Tsunade raised a hand to silence the young man. "No need for that Naruto. After I spoke to you in your shop I did a little creative adjustment to the files. Since that time you have been listed on the inactive rolls as a ninja to be reactivated in time of war." Tsunade smirked. "I did not even need to tell the council about that one since as it was a purely military matter. You're covered."

Naruto nodded. "So what is this 'coverage' going to cost me? After working in a business for 8 years, I know nothing is done for free."

Tsunade gave a sly smile. "If I had known this would turn into a negotiation I would have laid out drinks. I can offer you reinstatement as a Konoha ninja at the rank of chunnin, with promotion to jonin conditional upon your taking a genin squad. I assume that your forge is important to you so I will allow you to set up shop inside the village. That should keep the girl you have working for you safer." "An interesting offer.

**As you have seen this is not a normal Naruto. This one is more jaded and realistic in his outlook on life. The problem I ran into with this fic is that I really had nowhere else to take it. I just decided to shelve it but the idea of Naruto like that kept nagging at me until I wrote 'The Lost Ninja'**


	3. Birthright

**This story I had loved to write. I have been a solid Naruto / Hinata fan since the beginning. I really did not want to abandon this story but as with 'The Blacksmith' I really had not place to go with it past the first story arc. In the end, I lifted the entire thing with only minor edits into 'The Lost Ninja' Here is the original piece as it had been filed away.**

Hinata bowed properly as the last of the party guests filed out of the Hyuuga estate. Her 16th birthday party had been a huge success. The heir to the most powerful clan in Konoha had come of age. Most of the upper echelon of Konoha's ruling class had naturally been in attendance. The rest of the official guests had included Hyuuga family members, some higher ranked clan heads and a few lesser nobles of the Fire Country.

Her circle of friends, the balance of the so-called Konoha 11 and their jounin instructors, had all been there at her invitation. Her father had allowed even her invitation to Naruto. The four years since her first Chunnin exam had been fairly good for her relationship with her father. More specifically, the change began after Neji's loss to Naruto in the finals and Hiashi's revelation about his brother's death to the boy. Hinata's steady improvement since that time had not gone unnoticed by Hiashi. At the current time she was an upper level Chunnin and had been suggested for a position with ANBU. Hinata had reluctantly turned down that position in favor of more formal training in the methods of heading the House in the coming years. She smiled recalling the moment Naruto had entered.

Flashback:

Naruto strode into the hall and stopped at the receiving line. Hinata had spared a glance down at him in between greeting her guests as they moved down the line. Naruto was wearing a very formal gray kimono emblazoned with a pattern of small orange frogs. His hitae-ate was slung around his neck the way it had been during the Third's funeral and his hair actually had a tamed look to it. His posture was erect and proper but somehow relaxed as if he had done this before. 'Most likely Jiraiya had spent some effort on his manners during his apprenticeship' Hinata thought. When it was Naruto's turn to be received, he bowed correctly first to Hiashi then to Hinata. "Hyuuga-sama, Hinata-sama, Thank you for allowing me to come to your birthday party. I was greatly honored with the invitation." Hiashi had bowed back just as correctly "Your manners are better than I had expected Naruto-san. It seems being apprenticed to a Sannin has been good for you. Please, call me Hiashi as we are both students of the same teacher." Naruto smiled "Thank you Hiashi-sama. During my 3 years with Jiraiya-sensei, it was necessary to meet many daimyos and clan leaders as they valued his advice on important matters and as his apprentice I was at his side. I needed to be seen as a valued apprentice and not disgrace him." _'Its not like that the old coot didn't embarrass himself often enough. Man, this speaking formally sucks.' _Naruto thought. Hiashi smiled slightly and nodded. "Perhaps in the future, we could discuss a few of Jiraiya-sensei's more colorful attributes, Naruto-san. I am sure you have some stories as livid as my own. Studying under the man was an interesting experience and I know my time with him was well spent." Both Naruto and Hinata's eyes widened slightly at that comment and Naruto coughed slightly to cover his shock "I look forward to that, Hiashi-sama" Naruto said clearly flustered. Apparently Jiraiya had never mentioned his other genin students beyond having the Fourth. He then bowed again and moved off into the hall.

End Flashback

Her father interrupted Hinata's memories. "Daughter, come to my office at nine tomorrow morning. We have a few things that we need to discuss about your future." "Hai, Father" Hinata replied and watched her father walk down the hall toward his rooms.

Promptly at nine, Hinata was sitting in her father's office as he entered. He sat behind his desk and looked over at Hinata. "Until now, you have been heir by birthright only. Within a year, you will be formally invested as the Heir to the Hyuuga clan. I must admit many times in the past I have been tempted to favor your sister, Hanabi, over you. I felt that with the possibility of losing your status you would develop into the kind of person the clan would want as an heir. It seems that method was not the one that worked. Instead it was thru the encouragement of your friends that has brought us to this point.

It seems my older daughter took longer to bloom than the younger and it took a special person to help in that. I am not blind, daughter. I am well aware of your childhood infatuation with Naruto-san as well as your following him. I will admit that he is not a model ninja but his desire to do better, improve and become stronger was one that you took upon yourself and you have benefited from that. Several branch house members commented favorably on his manners last night. They had all expected the crass prankster we all know he can be and were very pleasantly surprised at the well-mannered young man who attended your party.

"Now onto the real business at hand. As you know, the head of the house is expected to continue the line. You on the other hand are not married and are no longer betrothed to anyone. Therefore, in the next 5 years before your formal investiture as head of the clan, you must find a suitable man and wed, or lose your status as heir in favor of your sister. That is a rule of the clan, not one of my own and tradition will not bend that much in your favor, daughter. Also, as you are of legal age, you are entitled to pick a suitable man from a number of choices that the clan has deemed worthy." Hiashi pulled a small scroll from his sleeve and set it on the desk. "It has been a difficult search for the names on that scroll, Hinata. I have had the clan archivists and genealogists looking through all the files we have on Konoha bloodlines and clans.

There are currently no worthwhile clan members sufficiently distant from you to wed and the sons of many local feudal lords are not acceptable to me. To be honest, daughter, the great ninja war that ended 17 years ago and the Kyuubi attack 16 years ago have left many clans and families broken. We Hyuuga were not so bad off and continued to remain the strongest in Konoha. Actually, many of the ninja clans then remaining in Konoha barely could classify as families based upon membership and power. Things were that bad for our village. You and your friends are among the first of the wave of children born after the wars and you are the first of the newest heirs to come of age. Many clans have used adoption, betrothal and early marriages to rebuild and prevent dying out."

"We of the Hyuuga are renowned for our wealth, power and bloodline so we rarely engage in the practice of betrothal and are able to pick the best from those available to become Hyuuga. We prefer to keep the bloodline pure when possible but there are times like now that we must look outside the clan for marriage. When doing this we not only look at family status but also techniques that could be made ours. Also, a person's accomplishments are taken into consideration. Currently, the clan elders have left a short list of 9 young men that could be considered acceptable to the Hyuuga clan." Hinata picked up the scroll from the desk and opened it slightly. "All are younger than you but by no more than 2 years and all are from good clans. If the clan were to choose for you politically the young man from that list to be chosen would be the nephew of the daimyo of the Land of Fire. As your father, however, I would not recommend him as he is a fop and has never done a day's work in his life. As your clan head, I am required to add him. Do you have any questions right now daughter?"

Hinata glanced down at the scroll in her hand. In her heart she knew her Naruto-kun would no be on that list. But one thing her father had said still rang in her mind. "Father, you said no longer betrothed. That means at some point, I was. May I ask how and to who this was?"

Hiashi smiled sadly and nodded. "In my youth, I was a on a genin team as all who could train were put to the task of winning the war. We remained a team and were good friends through the course of the war. On that team was the man I would call my best friend. He was not from a noble clan, he had no bloodline but his parents were skilled weapon smiths. He won great renown and eventually became a leader to our ninja. My friend became more than just a leader in war to us. He helped Konoha live on and was feared throughout the rest of the ninja world.

About 2 weeks before the Kyuubi attacked, we got together with our wives. They were good friends as well. Both were expecting and the med-nins had determined that my friend was having a son and of course we were having you, a daughter. All night long we were having sake and laughing at the times to come.

"At one point things got serious, how having children would make our political lives a problem with power seekers and sycophants looking to get to us thru the children. Your mother joked that maybe we should get the babies betrothed so neither of us would have to worry about power seekers later on. My father overheard us joking and said immediately we should do so.

Your grandfather was a canny man and always looked ahead to the future. The techniques of my friend would be a great addition to the Hyuuga as well as the position he held would be of great value to the clan. At the time, my father told me I would have many sons later on and betrothing a daughter for all that would be a benefit. We agreed to my father's plan. I know he was a plotter but he told me he would be satisfied with just the connection to a Kage. My friend and I took it all in stride but I am sure you remember your Mother's stories of how your grandfather was. He was very formal and loved legal niceties. So even before either of you were born you were set to be wed. But just weeks after, the Kyuubi attacked. My friend and his wife both died in that attack. If they had lived things would have been so much better Hinata. You would have been married to the son of the Fourth Hokage"

Hinata sat in shock for a few minutes as her father sat quietly. Her mind could barely comprehend what she had been told. She would have been married to the son of a Hokage by now if the Fourth and his family had lived. Looking up she said, "Father, may I beg for an hour to think and compose myself from this news before we continue to speak on other matters." "Yes, daughter, you may" "Arigato" Hinata rose and left to walk in the garden. She already knew her Naruto-kun would not be on the list as he was more than 2 months older than she was and her father said all the names were of people younger than she was. 'I get to choose and the only one I would choose is forbidden to me. But something father said troubles me.' After the hour passed, Hinata was back in her father's office.

"Father, I have several more questions regarding a betrothal contract. Is it enforceable even if the parents of one of the persons betrothed have died?" "Yes, it falls upon the guardian of the child involved to enforce the contract. It over-rides any deal struck save an accomplished marriage. If a person involved has married another, it becomes an immediate default. In your case, there would be virtually no chance that a child of the Fourth was born since there is no record of such a child. In addition, he would have had to be born between the party and the attack of the Kyuubi, the day both the Fourth and his wife died. The child would have been found long since as there are not that many blondes living in Konoha." Hinata nodded silently and Hiashi commenced the daily lessons.

At noon, Hiashi dismissed her from instruction for the day. Hinata spent lunch thinking over a few stray ideas that were nagging at her. The words her father chose kept ringing in her ears, like she was being told something underneath what he actually said. The fact that he mentioned blondes would continue to return to her thoughts. After eating lunch, she decided to pay a visit to the archives.

The branch family member in charge of the archives bowed low in welcome to Hinata. "Welcome, Hinata-sama. I am Hoshi, custodian of the clan archives. How may I help you today?"

"I received a list of names from my father today. I would like to find out about what knowledge our clan has of them before I meet them in person in the next few months. As I am older than all of them, I have some time to spend learning before I am to pursue any in a meaningful fashion."

Hoshi bowed again and led Hinata deeper into the building. It looked like any library that Hinata had been in, but on one side the shelves contained volumes while the smaller section contained many small scrolls. Hoshi talked as her led Hinata around, "The genealogy section is broken into 2 parts, those living and those dead. All persons in Konoha are listed in the main section, by clan. A simple family tree, birth death, children and so on. Those people who are not part of a clan are listed in tomes in alphabetical order. We do this as sometimes a prodigy or new bloodline appears and it is best to know where it might have come from. These files go back to the beginning of Konoha for non-Hyuuga. We have agreements for exchanging basic lineage trees with most of the clans and trade that information for purposes like that list in your hand, Hinata-sama.

All living persons of interest have their own scroll in the shelves, again by clan, as well as those who have accomplished great deeds. Upon the death of any person, the scroll is transcribed into a volume and filed in the deceased section by clan or otherwise."

"What defines one as a 'person of interest' Hoshi-san?"

"They are a ninja or a non nin member of a major clan. It was decided long ago that knowing your friends strengths and weaknesses is as important as knowing your enemies, because even alliances do not last forever. Those who are friends today might be dangerous to the clan tomorrow and knowing all we can will only protect the clan. Information is also a form of power, Hinata-sama."

Hinata only nodded at that and walked down the wall of scrolls, past the listed clan names to the end, where non-clan ninja were stored. She found the scroll with the name 'Uzumaki, Naruto' and pulled that one out.

"Why choose that one, Hinata-sama? That boy is a troublesome one. He defeated Neji-san in a Chunnin final a few years ago. I will admit adding that information to his scroll was something I wish I never had to do. But the boy did catch the eye of Jiraiya-sama somehow. That man could have had anyone be his apprentice and just picked that no account..."

Hoshi was stopped in his tirade as Hinata glared at the archivist. "Naruto-san was my classmate in the Academy and is an accomplished ninja. He works very hard to serve Konoha and keep all here safe. He might not be the best ninja in the village but he does serve it and as such deserves at least that much respect."

Hoshi bowed quickly, "Yes, Hinata-sama. Gomen."

Hinata unfurled the top of the scroll. It showed basic vital statistics, hair color, eye color, blood type, and date of birth. "The line for names of parents is blank, Hoshi-san."

"Yes, Hinata-sama. I recall some details on that scroll from when it was created. One of my assistants was assigned the task of compiling information on your graduating class. Uzumaki-san's scroll was most difficult to create and the assistant brought it to my attention. It seems Uzumaki-san was not born in the hospital here, but was listed having been born the day of the Kyuubi attack in the records of the orphanage. He had been taken there by the Third in person and told the mistress of the place the name and that the child had just been born only days before. His birthmarks caused many to give him problems there and the people working at the orphanage refused to talk much about him."

"But later records from the hospital that we collected show he was treated or admitted multiple times for malnutrition and neglect prior to his becoming a genin. His accomplishments since then, notable jutsu used, other public information like genin squad are included. Did you know he was there when the Uchiha defeated the boy who would become Kazekage during the Sound/Sand invasion?"

"Naruto-kun defeated Gaara" Hinata whispered reading the scroll.

"What was that that, Hinata-sama?"

"Naruto defeated Gaara of the Sand Village in that battle. Whatever your source for that information was has gotten it wrong. Gaara even said as much months later when a team of us were at the Sand Village. The Kazekage holds Naruto in high regard."

"I will have that information corrected on the scroll, Hinata-sama"

"Good, please do that. Now the person I really wanted to look up right now is deceased, Hoshi-san. I wanted to look at the information on the Fourth and his family. My father told me an interesting item today and I wanted to know more."

"Hai, Hinata-sama."

The man led Hinata to a row of tomes in the non-clan section. "The Fourth was an interesting fellow, Hinata-sama. He came from nothing to become Hokage and then died saving all of Konoha from the demon Kyuubi. Ah, here it is. Sadly, no clan can claim him so his entry is merely in the 'Other Nin' section. But he does rate his own volume due to the sheer amount of information here." Hoshi set the volume on a nearby table and stepped back to allow Hinata access. She opened the book and look at the vital information. Family name, parent's names, no siblings, wife's name but no family name for the wife, no children, basic vital statistics, height, blood type, hair, eyes. The date of death for both the Fourth and his wife was the date of the Kyuubi attack. Turning the page Hinata saw a small sketch of the Fourth's face. Hinata had never seen a sketch of the Fourth before and gasped slightly at the resemblance to Naruto.

"The face on the mountain is much different than this, Hoshi-san. The likeness is not even close"

"Hai, Hinata-sama. There were very few existing photos of the Fourth. Most of what people had to go by was blurry shots as he rarely hung around long enough for pictures in his line of work. This sketch was actually made by your mother the night after a dinner party he attended here. The artisans on the mountain took many liberties and went for a more heroic look in the stone. None born since then really have seen the Fourth's true face. But we preserved it here."

'So that is the face that would have been my father in law' Hinata thought. 'A few scars on his check and he would be … Naruto! This is too much of a coincidence' "Hoshi-san, when was the Fourth's wife due to give birth when she died?" "Hmm, that never got written down, but I think rumor had it at about 4 weeks before you were due. Then you ended up arriving 2 weeks late, your mother was so upset at that…."

"WHAT! I was born late?"

"Hai, Hinata-sama. About 2 weeks late. Is that important?"

"It might be, Hoshi-san. It just might be. Could you put this back for me, the scroll as well after you update it. I need to go somewhere. Arigato Hoshi-san. I will be back in a day or two to look at some families on my list." Hinata walked out quickly and turned toward the hospital. She had a few questions she hoped Sakura could answer.

At the hospital, Hinata found Sakura working with some beginning med-nins. After a brief wait, Hinata got Sakura to meet her for dinner. A quick search of the public library revealed no photos of the Fourth there either. Hinata was puzzled by this and decided that some further digging was needed after she met with Sakura again.

At the dango stand near the hospital, Hinata flagged down Sakura. After the pair had eaten, Hinata got to her real reason for meeting Sakura. "This is going to sound weird Sakura, but how long um, early can a baby be born and still survive ok?"

"Baby questions? Why do you need to know about babies, Hinata? OMG, are you?"

"NO!" growled a blushing Hinata. "I am working on something secret and I need to know a few things. Could a baby say a month early be ok with only a regular person taking care of it? No doctors or special machines?"

"Well, yeah Hinata. It could. It might have some other problems but a baby could do okay being born a month early."

"Thanks Sakura. I was really worried about Kuranai-sensei. She has been upset since Asura-sensei died and with her being pregnant and all. I guess I am just worrying too much again."

"Hinata, you're a good person. You try to be good and caring to everyone." Hinata flushed pink and excused herself after paying for dinner.

Later that night, Hinata lay awake thinking. 'If my theory is correct, there is a chance that several older people in the village know what I am looking for. But why would no one bring it forward? Protection, fear, shame. So many reasons but only one that matters to me right now. To find the answer I need, I must learn who Naruto's parents truly were.'

Chapter 3

Over the next several weeks, Hinata pored thru the volumes in the Hyuuga archives as well as those in the public library of Konoha. None of the texts had the information she was looking for. Anything that could tie Naruto to the Fourth was circumstantial at best. None of the orphanage's personal documents were open to the public and too many older people disliked Naruto for no reason any would discuss.

It seemed like a concerted effort had been made to obscure the personal life of the Fourth as well. His accomplishments were known but nothing of who the man was outside of his office. Iruka had helped look in the academy files for a photo of the genin team under the pretense of Hinata seeing her father as a new genin but the team picture was not there, only a shot of a young Hiashi who looked very much like Neji. Hinata made a wry smile when she saw it. She knew that if Hiashi and Hizashi had not been identical twins this whole hunt would not even be needed. She would have already been married to Neji. Her father and uncle being identical twins meant that Neji was more of a half-brother than a cousin and even for clan like the Hyuuga that was too close a connection for bearing children.

An attempt to talk to Kakashi on the subject of the Fourth went nowhere as Kakashi merely left stating that it was too painful to discuss. Hinata knew she was running out of options for a background investigation and would have to go into something a bit more overt. She made an appointment to meet with Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage.

Tsunade smiled as Hinata took the seat in front her. Hinata took little time in coming to the point. "Tsunade-sama, as you know, I am the heir to the Hyuuga clan and as such I need to be married to fulfill a part of my role in that. I have a small problem before I can proceed any further with my plans for a future. My father has informed me that I had been betrothed to someone but that contract is no longer valid. As Hokage, you have access to the village's contract records as well as all the files in your library that the previous Hokage have amassed. I was hoping that I could use these to ensure that the contract cannot be enforced in the future or if the other person mentioned is even alive. The person making the contract died as well as the person I was betrothed to was assumed to have been lost during the Kyuubi attack 16 years ago."

"That is quite a challenge, Hinata. The official records surrounding that time are spotty at best. All betrothal contracts in Konoha are filed with the Hokage so a copy of yours might still exist. The attack never got to the secure records vaults. Why bring this up to me now however? I am sure if the person lived, your clan would have taken pains to keep track of him."

"As I mentioned, Tsunade-sama, the contract had just been written who made the maker died. His son might have lived and not know of his heritage." Hinata looked down, a ghost of her old stutter returning, "I – I know this is hard to believe Tsunade-sama but the person who made the contract was the Fourth and I believe that Naruto is his son."

Tsunade sat in shock for a few moments just looking at Hinata. Somehow, this chunnin had figured out one of Konoha's most closely guarded secrets. Tsunade knew exactly what Hinata was saying to be true but she had to play ignorance.

"This ... this is a troubling case if true, Hinata. Finding that Naruto is actually the son of the Fourth would make a huge problem in the village, more so given his treatment over the years. I will have to consult Jiraiya on this one, as I am not as familiar with the Fourth as he was. I had left the village shortly before the Fourth took office and while I was one of the few people who knew he was married and that his wife also died in the attack. I was also aware she was expecting. Jiraiya was too much of a braggart not to tell me of such things but I was busy dealing with my own loss at the time."

Tsunade paused again here, fighting back her still pained memories. "I will have Shizune find the betrothal contract and read it. If the information you have told me is correct, I will have a search thru the official records conducted. The offspring of a Kage in any country is not someone to be ignored. I also will have to go thru the Third's own files on this one. The old man hated paperwork more than I do and he tended to just put things into boxes at random."

"Give me a few weeks. If something more pressing does not take up my time I will find what I can. For your part, I will need to know what you know and give all your data to Shizune. We will solve this mystery, one way or another. Hinata, I am glad you came to me with this. Naruto is important to me and I hold him dear like a little brother or a son at times. I know that you care deeply about him and if what you claim is true, then you could very well become a daughter in law to me"

Tsunade smiled at the lightly blushing girl. "Now, let me get back to my paperwork, I am sure Shizune has another cartful just waiting for you to open the door." Hinata stood, bowed and left. 'I already know that you are the Son of a Hokage, Naruto. I wish that we could find the documented proof we have looked for for years now. It might not make things right for you but it would make things better' Tsunade thought before she explained things to Shizune.

It was 2 weeks before Hinata was able to hear back from Tsunade. A C ranked diplomatic mission to the Land of Tea had kept the girl out of Konoha for most of that time. After reporting back in with Tsunade at the mission debriefing, Hinata was asked to wait in the Hokage's office when her team was dismissed. Hinata waited as Tsunade pulled out a small number of scrolls and files. "Well, the easiest part in this was finding the betrothal contract. If it was not fulfilled by the eighteenth birthday, it becomes void with all assets promised within as dowry delivered as a fee. I must admit, your grandfather wrote out a vicious contract. Most of the terms in it are skewed to the benefit of the Hyuuga. The couple is promised little more than a place to live and would have retained freedom from the Caged Bird Seal for you and your children. The Fourth's techniques were included in the contract to be shared with the Hyuuga."

"The part of linking Naruto to being the son of the Fourth we were not able to prove. All we have is circumstantial items. His looks are the most compelling one. Naruto simply looks like the Fourth, plain and simple. It is very surprising no one has mentioned this before. The timing of his birth is a few weeks before the Fourth's child was actually due but being born on the day of the Kyuubi attack still fits the theory. The sole report on the death of the Fourth's wife was fairly gruesome but there is no mention of her child. The boy is an orphan, that is public record stated by the Third himself that his parents died in the attack along with his date of birth. I cannot find any other official records that can confirm or deny your claim, Hinata. I found a record in the Third's journal about that day. Mainly the relevant part says that the Fourth was frantic trying to find a way to defeat the Kyuubi but all he had was a forbidden sealing jutsu."

Hinata broke in there, "The one that sealed Kyuubi into Naruto?"

Tsunade looked at Hinata with an arched eyebrow, "Um, Naruto mentioned the seal he has during the Akatsuki business a few months ago, Tsunade-sama. He felt it best that we know why the group was pressing so hard to capture him."

"Well, that makes explaining a bit easier. The hospital had been evacuated as the Kyuubi approached and there were no children available anyhow. Then, your father arrived at the tower carrying Naruto. The Third left no other mention I could find on what happened after that but that the Fourth said Naruto should be considered a hero. In the sealed records of the village council, many were opposed to even letting Naruto live but it was after strong support of the Third mainly from your father and several other prominent clans that he was allowed to live. That was when the Third made his ban on passing knowledge of the sealed Kyuubi to the younger population. The record of the council meeting was sealed, Hokage Eyes Only."

"It seems your father knows more about this than the official records show. I think he holds vital information to solving you little mystery. Hinata, I am assigning you a mission to discover what your father knows for me."

Chapter 4 Interrogation

The Hyuuga heir arrived at her scheduled lesson the next morning with Tsunade's information scroll in hand. Hiashi noted the Hokage mark on the scroll as she was sitting. "Daughter, what do you have today?"

"Father, I have been doing research on the betrothal you mentioned to me after my birthday. There were facts surrounding it that troubled me. The words you chose when you told me about it were not normal for you. There were too many inconsistencies in the Konoha records to know for certain if what I suspect is true or false."

"I looked thru clan records regarding the village but found them to be incomplete so I asked the Hokage for more information. There too, information was incomplete. That fact bothered the Hokage, as village records should be the most complete in regards to its citizen's heritage. Tsunade-sama asked officially for me to provide her with any information brought to light by my investigations."

Hiashi spoke very quietly, "I see. What have you found out, Hinata-chan?"

Hinata was taken back by the familiar usage of her father to her. He had not called her Hinata-chan since before her mother had died following Hanabi's birth. Steeling herself Hinata continued, "It seems that there is a person who knows what I am looking for but that person has not made such things known to the public. Father, why have you not told anyone that Naruto is the Fourth's son?"

Hiashi closed his eyes and nodded slowly. "You have pieced everything together. It means you have a firm resolve in this matter to come to me and say it outright. Such resolve is fitting in my heir. You must care a great deal about the boy to be so diligent in your search and risk so much on his behalf. I … I must prepare a few items. I will summon you back this afternoon and I will explain everything to you." Hinata rose, bowed and left while Hiashi merely sat quiet, a pained look on his face as the man was lost in memories.

Hinata sat in the garden looking at the family shrine. Time seemed to crawl as she waited for her father's message but at last one of the Branch members came up and informed her that Hiashi was ready for her. Shaking slightly, Hinata nodded and went to the office.

Hiashi was waiting at the office door for Hinata to arrive and told her to sit. He then closed the door and activated a small paper seal. "To prevent unwanted eyes and ears from knowing things they do not need to." Similar seals adorned the other 3 walls, ceiling and floor. Hiashi returned to his desk and sat. Several scrolls lay on the desk before him. All bore official marks of the clan and Hokage. "These scrolls contain the basis of the information you seek, Daughter."

"First, the clan copy of your betrothal." Hiashi lifted one scroll to show Hinata. "Next, an open letter signed and dated by the Third after his re-instatement as Hokage entrusting to myself the other sealed documents here. One being the official record of the birth and lineage of the boy named Uzumaki Naruto. It is still sealed but it says that Naruto is the son of the Fourth and that I am witness to that birth. Last I have in this scroll sealed the will, personal effects and remaining legacy of the Fourth to be given to his son on or before his seventeenth birthday if the executor, myself, and trustee, the Hokage feel the boy is free of any influence of the Kyuubi sealed within him. The will as well as the lineage remain sealed right now to be opened in official forums at the needed times. The scroll also has all personal papers and jutsu scrolls known to exist at the time of the Fourth's death sealed within it."

"Father, were you aware that in the betrothal contract there are terms that said if it is not completed by Naruto's eighteenth birthday, all items stated as dowries will be payable in full to the parties involved?"

"No, I had not read it that closely at the time; it was over 16 years ago. This is troublesome. I knew my father was ambitious for the clan but not to that extent. But, I am sure you have many more questions than that and merely getting these documents out is the simplest thing we shall do here today. You will take them to the Hokage after we have finished and I will meet with her shortly thereafter."

"I have only 1 real question Father. Why? Why hide all of this?"

"That is the question that is the most painful, Daughter. I must tell you everything in order for you to understand it."

"When the Kyuubi attacked, we had little warning. It was only a few hours at best. We still do not know who set the beast upon us but many felt it was Iwa. The Fourth gutted their military power during the war and many there still hungered for Leaf village blood. The civilians were evacuated and all shinobi were waiting. I was with the Fourth, Third and Jiraiya along with our wives at the Tower. Our teammate, Teuchi, was there as well. His wife and daughter had been taken to a shelter already. Between the seven of us, we were looking thru every forbidden scroll we could find to get a means to defeat the beast. All we found was the Death Reaper seal the Fourth came up with years before. He refused to sacrifice anyone else, as it required 2 lives to use. The caster's life would be sacrificed and a second life to be the container of the beast's essence."

"When the beast was too close, Teuchi and I were asked to take the women to the shelter. The closest one was a short distance from the tower. But when we were just outside of the shelter the winds generated by the beast hit Konoha and shattered nearby trees. The winds were swirling like a tornado because of the Kyuubi's tails. Shrapnel from the trees hit our group. I used Kaiten until I fell exhausted but still the debris and wind pelted us. One large branch caught Teuchi in the back, fracturing his spine. He avoided being paralyzed but it left him unable to remain being a shinobi in the future. Your mother had some emergency medical training and worked on him as I recovered some but the wind caught up Naruto's mother. She was pulled into the air and away from us. I left your mother with Teuchi and went after her."

"Even being 8 months pregnant that woman was still shinobi. She had a spool of ninja wire stashed somewhere on her. Near the base of the tower, she managed to get a line onto a tree and pull herself to the ground. Flying debris hit her in the knees from behind sheering both of her lower legs off. Even at my best, we both knew I could not get her to help in time because she would bleed to death before that. As I tried to stop the bleeding, she took one of my kunai and sliced into her belly."

Hiashi paused, as the emotions of his memory were so vivid in relating these to Hinata. Tears ran down his face. Hiashi paused to dry them with a handkerchief before continuing. "She cut Naruto free from herself and gasped to me to save him. She kissed him then fell quiet. The baby cried weakly but all I could do for him then was go into the Tower for shelter. I stumbled in, mostly in shock as they looked at me holding Naruto. The look on my face must have told them more than I could in words."

"The Third looked at the infant but said he was having trouble breathing and did not look like he was going to make it. The agonized look on the Fourth's face I cannot describe. He just looked like he had lost everything, because he had. First his wife and now in under an hour his son would die, suffocated due to under developed lungs. He grabbed the baby, the sealing scroll and used Hiraishin to get out to the battle. Before we could catch up, he had summoned Gamabunta and cast his Death Reaper seal using Naruto as the vessel. The Fourth knew that the beast would keep the boy alive. He wanted his son to live so badly he inflicted that on the boy over the boy dying. He asked us to have the village see Naruto as a hero as he died."

Hiashi say silent for a moment before continuing. "The beast was defeated but then the real demons came out. The Third, Jiraiya and myself had to meet with the village elders and clan council hours later as your mother watched little Naruto. We decided that they could not know Naruto was the son of the Fourth. We were aware Danzo would use his influence to control the boy thru ANBU and Root by making the excuse of security from assassination and make a weapon out of the boy."

"We felt that as a nameless orphan he had the best chance at a life. His name, Uzumaki, was the family name of his mother. Somehow that also seemed fitting. It also describes the swirling winds that caused his mother's death and the swirl of the seal on his stomach. We did not know how well the Fourth's seal would hold. Other jinchuuriki have shown bad tendencies as well as possession by the beasts so that also influenced the decision. The son of a Kage being controlled by a demon was not something that should happen. In addition, the threat of Rock and Cloud loomed. The recent war had been won for us by the Fourth and if Naruto's heritage were revealed then, they would spare no effort in attempts to kill the child. Add to it that we were weakened severely by the assault, and we faced a disaster that could lead to the downfall of Konoha. So, we hid the truth."

"Between the three of us and a few seal experts were managed to convince the council that if the boy died young the seal would fail and release the beast again. We told them that it would be at least 10 years before we could be sure the beast would not outlive Naruto. This alone would protect the boy's life, as word would be passed to the populace that to harm the boy would make the seal fail. Others wanted banishment but Danzo and his war hawks managed to block that saying it was best to keep an eye on the boy. We Hyuuga as well as some of the weakened clans wanted to adopt the boy but the balance prevented that feeling no one clan should have sole access to the boy. It was madness.

In the end, there were three factions trying to decide a newborns fate and all at odds in how to deal with the boy. What one group wanted the other 2 would oppose. In the end, the Third made the law that no one was to speak of the beast sealed in the boy and said that the village would care for their hero together. The child would be a ward of the Hokage and placed in the orphanage with all the other children. I wish it had come out like that. I could do nothing but wait and hope."

"The only overt aid I could make was to donate funds to help the orphanage. Danzo's supporters and the faction that wanted to kill Naruto were the ones that spread the word to hate the boy. Danzo did that so Naruto would become harsh and tormented then he could 'rescue' the boy, the others so they could kill or banish him. Even members of my own clan went against me by beginning to fear and hate the boy even after my commands to treat him kindly. Even an all seeing eye cannot see everything. But, if it were to become known who he is it could still shatter the village."

"The only clan members who knew that Naruto was the Fourth's son were myself, your mother, your uncle and his wife. The elders were kept in the dark about the truth but some suspected. Hyuuga were not known for the care of orphans. Naruto's blonde hair and blue eyes were also a strong giveaway to his heritage as well. Only the Fourth and Yamanaka family had that coloring. To make things worse, over a dozen Hyuuga ninja had died in the Kyuubi assault so the feelings against Naruto were strong. Those who suspected made several early attempts to turn the clan against the boy because some elders did not wish the chance of your betrothal becoming a fact. Over the years, many veiled threats have been made against you. A branch member who lost his only son in the attack allowed the kidnapping on your 3rd birthday. He thought if he could not remove the boy, he would remove you for the sake of the clan. To protect your life, it took a vow from me never to mention anything regarding a betrothal to you. I agreed to do so unless specifically asked about it. I would hide the truth but would answer honestly if asked."

"So, with your 16th birthday approaching, I was left with a quandary. My daughter's happiness or my clan. The clan elders still foolishly hold the clan deaths by the Kyuubi against Naruto. Even though he is more skilled and of greater renown than any we could find, the clan elders will not consider him as favorable for being a husband. That is why Naruto was not on your list. I could not go against them in this as they are holding the branding of Hinabi with the Caged Bird seal over my head right now. If I tried to place Naruto onto the list, Hinabi would be branded before the day is over. My only option was to bring up the betrothal. I felt if you were driven enough to find out the truth with the clues I could give you then I could tell everything. If you did not care for Naruto enough, I would wait and let the village know his lineage at his 17th birthday and keep the betrothal a secret."

Hiashi lifted the sealed scrolls from the desk and handed them to Hinata. "Take these to the Hokage. Naruto is a fine boy and will be a good man. He would also be a fine husband. He has earned that respect from me and from many of the ninja clans. Now they can know why I never stood against him and add that to how they regard him, for good or ill. I would also tell you to remind Tsunade that Naruto is still officially a 'ward of the Hokage'. She will understand the meaning of that"

Hinata looked at her father's face and saw a single tear reappear in the corner of his eye at the pain of the memories he had related. She bowed quickly and left the office to go to her room to think. Hinata was stunned at the completely unexpected revelations of her father. He had known for years exactly who Naruto was but never had told anyone. Thinking back, she could never remember any time her father said anything bad regarding Naruto. Hiashi normally remained quiet about Naruto or would tell clan members that he is not to be discussed. Most took that as a quiet disapproval of the boy but seeing things based on the new information Hinata now had she realized one important thing. Hiashi was simply stopping things from proceeding against Naruto by banning talk of him in clan business. That also allowed the clan to have 'no official stance' on Naruto.

She also realized that when other children were told to avoid Naruto, she had never received such directives from her parents. Her personal hesitation came from a combination of her own shyness and from others in school telling her not to be around the boy; peer pressure. Most adults simply shunned the boy by pretending he did not exist. Many merchants would not do business with him and few restaurants would serve him. The only place that actually welcomed Naruto was Ichiraku Ramen, which was owned and run by Teuchi; the same Teuchi who had been a teammate of the 4th and her father. It would make sense if he knew the truth as well. Hinata decided to stop for lunch on her way over to see the Hokage with the scrolls her father had given her.

Hinata sat at the counter of the ramen stand and was warmly greeted by Ayame. Hinata asked to speak to the slightly older girl's father when he had a chance and ordered a lunch special. Hinata had mostly finished when Teuchi managed to get a break from cooking and came up to the front. "Ah, Hinata-san. Ayame said you wanted to speak with me. Not to complain I hope?" He smiled as he joked and Hinata smiled in return. "No Teuchi-san. I actually found out this morning that you were on a team with my father years ago under Jiraiya. I also had a small question that you do not need to answer if it makes you uncomfortable." Hinata lowered her voice. "How long have you known who Naruto's parents were?" Teuchi backed up slightly in shock as he had learned close to Hinata to hear the question. "Um, hmm, Ayame, I need to take a break and make a delivery. Hinata, come with me please." Hinata nodded and followed the quickly walking Teuchi. Ayame was puzzled and noticed that her father had forgotten the delivery box.

Leading Hinata to a nearby park, Teuchi sat on an out of the way bench looking very nervous. "Hinata, this is a very difficult subject. No one knows for certain whom Naruto's parents were. I have a strong idea based on what I know but … " Teuchi sighed. "I know in my heart who he is but I cannot prove it." Hinata pulled out the scroll her father had given her. "Teuchi-san, I can. My father was holding this in the clan vault for the Third. He was witness to Naruto's birth." Teuchi looked at the scroll in her hand and lowered his head into his hands. After a few seconds, he looked back up and in a shaky voice, "Then you were told of the attack and about Naruto." Hinata nodded "And about his guest, Teuchi-san. But how did you suspect who Naruto is?" "I was injured in the attack, it nearly crippled me and left me unable to mold chakra anymore. Your mother was with me when Hiashi had Naruto's mother brought in. It was painful to see. She had been a ninja, a good one. She had fire and courage and would never quit at anything. To see her dead like that, all the injuries she suffered. All the blood. I did notice that her stomach was too low under the sheet. Before I could speak, Hiashi said that he did not want to answer anything regarding her condition. Only that it would be better and more honorable if he said nothing of it at this time. I became angry and yelled at him that if could not answer me; we would no longer be friends. He only nodded and left. It was months before I was well enough to be up and about. During that time, your father was made Head of your clan since your grandfather died along with so many others in the attack. I was no longer an active shinobi. We no longer had contact with our new lives to be attended to.

Anyhow, I knew a child had been used to seal the Kyuubi but nothing more. I retired to work in my father's restaurant and took care of my family. Years later, Naruto first came up to Ichiraku looking so thin. People just shoved him out of their way or simply ignored him completely. I called the boy in and fed him as much as he could hold without getting sick and told him he always had a place to eat there. I also heard people muttering about demons and I managed to put everything together. I sent a message to your father that I had met a small blonde boy and now understood his silence that night and apologized. A week later, your family stopped in and had lunch. Your mother was pregnant again with your younger sister I believe. Naruto was eating over on his usual place and you were so cute, hiding behind your mother as she told him to eat slower. He just looked scared and ate faster and ran out when he was finished. 'There are not many blondes in Konoha, Teuchi-san, are there?' your father asked. 'No, there aren't Hiashi-san.' 'We should take care of the ones we have left, Teuchi-san.' 'Hai.' Your mother smiled at me and you waved as you all left. That is how I know."

"I am going to see the Hokage after this, Teuchi-san. Perhaps another blonde can help take care of the one we love"

Chapter 5 Exposition

Hinata approached Tsunade's office slowly. Her nerve from facing her father was slowly fading as each step brought her closer to her goal. She knew that revealing all the information she had learned today to the village in general would create chaos. Naruto was the son of the greatest hero Konoha had ever known. A large portion of the people of the village had shunned or verbally abused the boy for his entire life. Some clans and families still pretended he did not exist. Buildings got more acknowledgement than Naruto had from them. Hinata thought on things Naruto had said back in the Academy. 'Someday all of Konoha will acknowledge me' he had been fond of saying. And yet, the scrolls in her hands would force many who denied him to recognize him in some way. They would only acknowledge whom he was born to not the young man or his accomplishments. Not the man she had fallen in love with.

Love. Such a powerful word in itself. It had begun years before as simple inspiration. Watching the boy no one seemed to want around. Watching the boy be pushed aside, denied friends, driven out of businesses. But he always kept trying to gain acknowledgement. Being denied training or deliberate mistrained by the very teachers who were supposed to help him. To see him trying so hard to succeed had driven her to find within herself the strength to continue. At some point, inspiration turned to infatuation as their careers as ninja approached. Hinata knew that Naruto was impressed by strength and pushed herself beyond what she believed she could be at her first Chunnin Exam. Weeks later, his confession as to liking people like her gave her hope that he could feel for her what she did for him. After his return from training under Jiraiya, Naruto was already a man in her eyes. His courage in the face of death or worse never wavered. She knew her feelings had matured in those years as well. She paused just outside Tsunade's office now. If everything were to be exposed, she would be open to the same kinds of treatment Naruto received. But then, she had dealt with harsh treatment before. She had grown strong under the gaze of a clan that would not tolerate failure. She had earned their respect. Now, she would gladly discard it all for the one chance that her heart wanted.

She wanted her Naruto-kun.

Shizune noticed Hinata enter the office. She smiled up at the younger woman and noticed the official seals on the scrolls Hinata held. A small gasp sounded as Shizune saw the expressive smile pasted on the face of the Hyuuga heir. Shizune knew that Hinata rarely smiled in public and never like that. A joyful beaming look covered the young woman's face. "Tsunade-sama!" Shizune called out before rushing to the inner office. "Hinata is here and has some documents for you." Hinata was ushered into the office to stand before Tsunade. "My father has asked me to give over these scrolls entrusted to him by the Sandaime Hokage to you, Tsunade-sama. They contain the witnessed birth record of Uzumaki Naruto and proof of his lineage as the son of the Yondaime Hokage." Hinata paused as tears of happiness were running down her face. "The second scroll contains all of the Yondaime's personal papers, private effects and jutsu scrolls sealed within it. It is the legal proof of who Naruto-kun is.

Tsunade closed her eyes to ward off tears of her own. "Hiashi had them the whole time. I should have confronted him on this when I took office. I should have known the old man would have entrusted those things to the Fourth's best friend. Shizune, where did you hide my sake? This calls for a celebration. We can finally prove who Naruto is to the Council." Hinata's smile faltered a bit as Tsunade got Shizune to get the drinks. "Um, I am confused Tsunade-sama. You knew who Naruto was this whole time?" "Yes, I did know Hinata. We lacked the means to PROVE what we knew. Jiraiya knew but he was sent out of Konoha by the Council soon after the Kyuubi attack to try to find the reason for it. But his word alone was not proof enough to bring to the Council and few trusted his word anyhow. The record of Naruto's birth submitted by Jiraiya mysteriously was never added to the Council archives and so they could deny him everything. Even those of us that knew kept silent because a hint of this would cause many people to find a way to suppress it somehow. With enough younger people finally being seated on the Council and the old ones that still dislike the Naruto and the Yondaime in a minority, we can finally bring Naruto's heritage to light. This document your father gave us is the last thing we needed. His 'no official stance' policy on Naruto has served him for 16 years and now this will blow the anti Naruto faction of the Council away and allow us to acknowledge him. Well done Hinata. Shizune, get Sakura, Kakashi and Naruto here as soon as possible. We need to let them know as soon as we can. Hinata, you wait here."

Sakura arrived first as she was only in the hospital. Kakashi and Naruto were harder to track down. It took a messenger eagle to be sent up before the pair was located in a distant training field. When Team Kakashi was seated in her office Tsunade began. "This concerns Naruto mainly but it should have an impact on everyone here. It seems Hinata has been doing some digging in the Hyuuga archive vaults and come up with a few items that affect Naruto. The scrolls are going to remain sealed for now but I can tell you what is in them.

"Naruto, the scroll contains the official record of your birth. Your mother was Uzumaki Kushina, from the Land of the Whirlpool. It is a part of the Land of Water now. . The symbol the Sandaime gave you to wear on your left sleeve was once the symbol of that country. As to your father, your father was Namikaze Minato, the Fourth Hokage."

Naruto sat in silence. He lowered his head and slowly nodded. He spoke in a quiet voice. "I know. I have known for years, Baa-chan. The Old Man told me once when I was small. He never said it outright that the Yondaime was my father but he hinted at it. He did tell me about my mother when he gave me the symbol." Naruto looked at Tsunade with a pained smile. "He told me she was beautiful with red hair and shining blue-green eyes. He told me her name and that she died making sure I would live. I pestered him about my father but he never said it outright. He just pointed at the Mountain. He said as long as the face of the Fourth was on that mountain, my father was watching over me. I was about 10 when I figured out the meaning of what he said. I was looking at the picture of the Fourth on the wall here. I was waiting on the Old Man to finish so we could go to dinner and I climbed on the couch to look at the picture better. My refection in the glass was next to the Fourth's face. It was like looking at a double image. I never asked about my parents again after that."

**When I added this to 'The Lost Ninja' I pulled out the part of Kakashi and Sakura being there. They were not really required for anything. I had considered my version of a ninja death for Kushina to be preferable to simply 'dying in childbirth'. I felt that these people would be able to prevent that. Even now, I prefer this one to Kushimoto's 'My mom was a teenage junchuuriki' storyline.**


	4. Momo

**This one is a future fic. It is another one that rivaled my first story 'The Will Born in Fire' for idea time in the months before I focused on WBIF. I was attempting to get past the outline but never got past the introduction arc. In the end it got shelved. Many ideas along with the conceptial children becoming the basis for Sakura and Lee's kids found their way into 'The Lost Ninja'**

The welcome cries of a healthy baby sounded out in the maternity ward. Naruto released the hand of his wife Sakura as the nurse cleaned the baby and brought her to the waiting parents. The nurse looked a touch nervous as she placed the swaddled child in Sakura's arms. Naruto sighed softly, "Hmm, I guess some things we just cannot get away from, Sakura-chan" Sakura nodded as she smiled at her daughter, pink peach fuzz hair framing a cute baby face with 3 whisker marks on each cheek. "Another beautiful flower in my family." Naruto chuckled, "Welcome to the world Uzumaki Momo."

12 years later

35 yr old Rokudaime Naruto heard yelling outside of his office. This was not what he wanted to hear on his daughter's birthday. An ANBU entered his office and Naruto sighed, "What has she done now?" "Momo toilet papered the market district. It seems she raided this building's entire supply, including all the bathrooms." Naruto shook his head and groaned a bit. Kyuubi had mention this to him years ago but it always came back to haunt him when Momo pulled a prank.

"_You do realize that if you have children, they are going to have a bloodline. The effects a demon has on the person become genetic and that is how all the bloodlines have come about. Most came from lesser demons and onis but you hit the jackpot kid." Kyuubi chuckled evilly. "Not only will your descendants have your insanely huge chakra reserves but they will have the fine kitsune traits of your facial markings and a near irresistible desire to prank. Seeing as I am the Lord of Demons, your bloodline will be dominant over any others that your descendants breed into. Imagine a horde of little Narutos running around pranking everything in sight."_

Naruto remembered how the Kyuubi had laughed for weeks when Naruto found out Sakura was expecting. Sakura, ever the level headed one of the couple, merely said they would do their best to teach the kids not to harm anyone or cause permanent damage. At least their son, Minato, seemed to confine his pranks to Naruto himself; but Momo went for high profile stuff. That means tomorrow she would be having a grumbling day being punished.

"Was I ever that bad, Kakashi?"

"Hmmm, I would be glad to answer that honestly, Naruto, as I am sure I would be having a long string of D class missions ahead of me if I did, but I do not think she topped your painting of the mountain yet." Naruto heard a signal bird call out a Stand Down to ANBU units and wondered what was going on. Kakashi saw the look on his face and poofed out.

A couple of minutes later he was back in the office. "It seems you were just in the market district telling everyone your daughter had been caught and was being punished already. I also brought 'you' with me." Naruto raised an eyebrow at the grumpy image of himself in his Hokage robe standing in the grasp of Kakashi.

"Drop the henge, Momo" A puff of smoke surrounded the form and a preteen girl appeared. She was about average height for her age and sported to long pink pigtails that seemed to defy gravity.

"Am I in trouble Otou-san?" Momo pouted as cute as she could at her father.

'She could be a clone copy of my younger Oiroke no jutsu form except with pink hair.' [see anime episode #2 for visual] The girl was dressed in a peach colored variant of her mother's genin outfit only with the Uzumaki spiral on the back. "Knock it off, Momo or I will have your mother give out the punishment."

Momo stopped pouting and stood there quietly.

"You will go clean up your mess right now, and your punishment tomorrow will be cleaning up the market district from dawn til dusk while wearing a copy of one of Lee's green spandex jumpsuits with legwarmers."

"But .. but. Daddy, not that ! All my classmates will see me in that outfit. Its hideous and the boys will be staring at my butt the whole time."

"One more compliant and it will be the neon orange one, got it ?"

"Yes Daddy." Momo murmured, beaten this time.

"But if you do a good job on it, I'll take you out for ramen." The girl perked up at that and smiled on her way out the door.

Kakashi chuckled after the girl left to get cleaning. "So how goes the latest Ichi Ichi volume, Kakashi? Last I heard from Jiraiya, you were writing the books now. With Tsunade keeping him on a short leash, he cannot get his 'research' done anymore. I still cannot believe he used his book proceeds to pay off her gambling debts when she retired."

"Hai, things are going well. Reviews on the first book were positive. They said the books read like they had a plot now instead of just relying on straight porn. But, my visit is really for business today. Chunnin exams are approaching and things seem peaceful enough. The Rock and Cloud are still holding their own separate exams, like always. Sand and Mist are sending about the normal numbers, but we are going to see larger contingents from Rain, Grass and Waterfall this year. We are even getting a few teams in from Star. Sound is still grumbling at being limited to 5 teams in the village but you know how Sasuke is. So he is sending a large number to the other exams. He always wants to be better than you."

"I know. He sent me a letter last week almost crowing at the birth of his 4th son and that the 2nd oldest already has developed a Sharingan. I do not know how his wife Karin puts up with him. Speaking of wives, Sakura wants you over for dinner before you go back out of town. Last time you skipped out and Minato filled the place with feathers he was so upset." Both men chuckled at that and Kakashi said he would make it over this time then left the office.

Naruto stretched as he stood and looked out of his window. He was feeling anxious lately. It was nearly 15 years since he took over as Hokage after the destruction of the Akatsuki. Nearly 15 years of peace and growth for Konoha and their allies. The military power of the lands surrounding Konoha was the highest in history, surpassing even the buildup before the Third Ninja War. Tension between the 2 main power groups was nearly as high as then as well. Cloud and Rock both had seen massive drops in their contracts since Naruto had become Hokage and it was revealed he had personally led the destruction of Akatsuki. Diplomatic talks to bring all 5 Kages together for a joint summit in Sound next year at their first ever hosted Chunnin Exam were going well. But Kakashi's report told a different story. Rock basically controlled the Earth country now. It had its sights set on expansion again and the only place for it to expand were the smaller countries holding Waterfall, Rain, Star, and Grass. Sound being nominally neutral was luckily not in direct land contact to Earth but it was also being pressured into formally joining the 'Northern Alliance'. Those smaller countries were on good terms with Fire and if they fell, it would put Earth on a direct border with both Fire and Wind.

**The concept of a major war looming at the end of this concept piece became the center of 'The Lost Ninja'. The only thing different was this concept had the Rock / Stone village as the major enemy, not the Sound. My reason for not continuing was more that I would have to create so many new characters for it. At the time, I felt that new or other characters should not be the centerpiece of a story for a fan fiction**


	5. Hyuuga

**Another story idea I really liked but I never did anything with. I wrote this one early on and it shows. My thinking here is that all the members of the Hyuuga have that seal on them except for the main family. But the idea I had from what Neji said in the Chunin Exam fight is that only the immediate family of Hinata is shown as being the 'main' family. That would imply the rest have the seal. With a seal that can kill them with a symbol, what would happen if someone who hated the Hyuuga got heir hands on the activation key?**

Disaster came from the most innocent of actions. A patrol of chunnin came upon a caravan stuck in the mud near the border between the Fire Country and the Wave Country. They paused on their route to make sure that no one was injured or sick. They could see the merchants working to free the wagons but the muck seemed to slide back into place after the merchants pulled it from the wheels. A branch member of the Hyuuga clan activated his blood limit, the Byukagon. When he saw the chakra in the mud he yelled out to his comrades, "Ambush!" The chunnin had no time to react as all 3 were struck by electrical jutsu and shocked into silence. The Cloud ninja with slashes thru the cloud symbol on their headbands pulled off their disguises and gathered up the unconscious Leaf ninja and departed the area.

The Hyuuga had no idea how long he had been under torture. The first thing the former Cloud had done was seal off his chakra network. Only his physical abilities would work now but without chakra, a farmer was stronger than him now. The Hyuuga were not known for great strength of body as their clan fighting technique was more of a finesse style than a brute force one. The beatings, drugs, and sleep deprivation all combined to break his will and his memories began to pour out. His past in the clan was revealed including the curse seal on his forehead. More questions about that came up. No, he could not activate another seal as the hand signs would make his own activate. But he knew them anyhow. All the branch members knew them. It gave them a half second to prepare before the pain would hit. And now, the former Cloud knew them as well.

The Hyuuga was slowly recovering from his latest meeting with the former Cloud torture squad. His attention was drawn to a scarred jonin who waited for something. An idle thought that this man was nowhere near as good as Morino Ibiki gave him a chuckle before he saw the former Cloud jonin make a series of too familiar hand signs and the Hyuuga fell in pain as his curse seal activated. Minutes passed as the seal drove deeper pain into his head until the Hyuuga succumbed and died. The former Cloud ninja began to chuckle at first until their laughed resounded off the walls of the room. The time for revenge against the clan who took their status was at hand.

The spy had taken his time getting into Konoha. A full six months had passed since the dead Hyuuga branch member's body had been recovered. It had been mauled by animals but was otherwise intact. The Hyuuga clan had paid it no mind other than to give the man a burial. They would soon learn their folly.

It was soon after sunset when he struck. He walked up to the gate of the Hyuuga clan compound and knocked. The servant who answered was soon writhing in pain as the activated curse seal was killing her. The spy strolled into the compound with an evil smirk. He focused his chakra as he walked to the Branch house barracks. The shouts of pain and suffering followed as the Branch member of the Hyuuga clan were killed without mercy.

ANBU finally reacted to the shouts once enough were heard. The spy hurried through the building to the main one to finish up on his mission to kill the Hyuuga. He died quickly as Hiashi was coming out and killed him without thinking. The screams had long since stopped and the eerie silence of death lingered.

Barely more than a half dozen Hyuuga survived the slaughter. Hiashi and his daughters, Hinata and Hanabi, survived naturally; being main branch ninja and without the caged bird seal. Four others lived on the simple fact they were not present in the compound. Neji, Hiashi's nephew had been out on a mission with his team. Two chunin and one ANBU Hyuuga also lived as they had been on duty.

The rest perished. As a clan and force for Konoha, the Hyuuga had been removed.

**A very harsh fate indeed. I pretty much had no place to go with this idea and it never got fleshed out beyond the outline of concept here. If someone likes it, it is available for adoption.**


	6. Without Kakashi

**I have always been big on finding 'What If?' moments. This one hinged on 'What if Naruto prevented Haku from getting between Kakashi and Zabuza?' The jonin end up taking each other out leaving a trio of genin all alone in hostile territory. As with the other failed ideas, this one had no plan after the rough idea was written out. I never looked back at this one for inspiration but will offer it to anyone who thinks they could do something with it.**

Without Kakashi

Sakura watches the action in front of her in a series of flashes as her eyes darted back and forth on the separate battles in front of her.

Kakashi shouted "Chidori" and lunged at Zabuza.

Haku tried to get past Naruto in order to protect his master but is struck down by a jaw rattling punch.

Zabuza tearing a sleeve to free his arm from the grip of a hound and quickly lifting his blade in between Kakashi and himself as the Chidori is about to strike.

The cry of Haku being held down by Naruto yelling "Nooooooo!" as the flash of impact blinds them all.

As their eyes clear, they see Kakashi and Zabuza both standing motionless then both slump down together. Kakashi's dogs all get close to their master and begin to howl in mournful tones. Naruto let go of Haku and rushes to Kakashi's side while Haku did the same for Zabuza. Naruto gently pulls Kakashi's fist out of Zabuza's chest and sees the sword imbedded across Kakashi's stomach all the back to the spine. The mist slowly rose as the chakra sustaining it was no more and Sakura saw Sasuke's motionless form begin to stir.

"Sasuke!" she called out and ran to the last Uchiha. She carefully plucked senbon from his limbs as Haku and Naruto merely stared at the dead bodies of their teachers. The small pug dog barked at one of the larger dogs who vanished in a puff of smoke.

A roar of laughter began to echo across the unfinished bridge. The four young ninja looked to see Gato and a large group of thugs approaching. "Now this will be a piece of cake from here, boys. The big fish are dead and all we have to deal with are the minnows and the bridge builder." Gato said to his men. "Kill them all and bring me the heads of that sword toting freak and the masked guy. His eye should fetch a nice price from the Cloud Village!"

The mob of henchmen began to race in to attack the group when both Naruto and Haku stood up side by side and shouted almost in unison, "You will not touch them!" Naruto glanced at Haku, "Truce for now?" "Agreed, we have other business to attend to" Haku replied. Kakashi's hounds spread out on either side of the two boys growling at the men. Sasuke could barely move from his ordeal and was leaning heavily on Sakura as the pair moved closer to the rest. Tazuna hid behind them all.

The mob of henchmen moved in as Naruto yelled "Kage bunshin" and dozens of clones appeared. As this was happening Haku formed his Water Needles and launched them at the mob. Over a dozen enemies fell and blocked the approach and then the charging clones were among the mob. The henchmen were mainly brutes and brawlers and fell quickly to the combined attacks of the needles and clones. Kakashi's dogs ran around the group to corner Gato against the rail of the bridge.

The pug addressed the man "You might as well jump off. It will be an easier death for you for disrespecting Kakashi-sama like that." Gato paled as the hounds closed in before turning and leaping off the nearly completed bridge. The remaining henchmen turned to flee from the assault and were stopped by a militia of the townsfolk led by Inari that were coming down the bridge from the island. All the henchmen still moving surrendered quietly.

The pug walked up to Naruto and spoke again, "Genin, I am Pakkun, one of Kakashi's hounds. We will remain here near our master until the ANBU arrive from home. None of your team here can dispose of a body and we do not wish for his secrets to be known. The one that left returned to Konoha as that is where we are summoned from. She will inform the Hokage thru the Inuzuka of what has happened here."

"Um, ok." Naruto was at a loss for what to say as he never had a dog talk to him before. "Perhaps I can be of help there, Pakkun-sama." Haku said. "I have some training as a hunter nin and know body disposal techniques. I am planning to do so to my master, Zabuza, at any rate." Pakkun nodded and allowed Haku to begin to move Zabuza's body away from Kakashi. Naruto got on the other side and aided Haku in moving the corpse. "Thank You, Naruto." Haku said in gratitude. A few hand signs later and Zabuza's body was ashes.

Pakkun instructed Naruto to remove Kakashi's vest and headband for return to Konoha. Naruto numbly complied and stepped back to allow Haku to apply the jutsu. The remaining hounds gathered in a circle around the body and howled loudly as Haku did his work. Moments later, the body of Hatake Kakashi was ash.

Chapter 2

Pakkun had Naruto drape the vest and headband over the back of the large bulldog. All the dogs except Pakkun then vanished in a cloud of smoke as they unsummoned back to Konoha. Pakkun looked over the exhausted teens and told them "We should return to Konoha at once. A genin squad with no leader could find themselves in over their heads."

"No" whispered Naruto.

"Hn"

"I said, No. We are not leaving until this mission is completed. We convinced Kakashi-sensei to allow us to continue on this mission after the Demon Brothers. If anything, we are to blame for his death as much as Zabuza by doing that. We owe it to him to finish what we started."

Sasuke nodded "I agree with Naruto. We do owe it to him." Sakura just stood quiet.

Haku stood off to the side watching this. He had nothing with Zabuza gone. He had no more purpose and had no idea what to do next.

Naruto noticed the boy and asked "Do you intend to finish the job Zabuza started or is that going to continue?"

"No, Naruto. Even if I was inclined to do it the person who would have paid for it is dead. I have no quarrel with your team. I have nothing without Zabuza."

"Well, why not come with us then?" Naruto asked.

"Are you insane, Naruto?" Sasuke yelled. "He just tried to kill us a few minutes ago!"

"So? We were trying to hurt him as well. Like he said, without Zabuza he has no reason to fight."

"But Naruto what can we do without Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked quietly "We are just genin."

"Sakura, I swore in blood that I would not run away from a fight. I am not going to turn back from that just days later. You can run if you want but I am finishing. I am a ninja of the Village Hidden in the Leaves and we gave our word we would do this mission. I will not stop until it is completed or I die."

Naruto glared at Sakura who wilted looking slightly ashamed before nodding and standing straight again. "I am scared but I will stay to finish as well."

Naruto looked at Sasuke who was still shaky on his feet but gave his trademark smirk. "I said I will stay but don't think this makes you leader, dobe" Naruto grinned. "Nope, not in charge but we just have to agree on things until Konoha gets someone out here to do that for us."

Haku continued to stand quietly and watch. 'Where does he find the strength do be like this? He is pulling himself back up and bringing the other two back from despair along with him. There is much I could learn from these Konoha ninja. I have nothing else so perhaps I too could learn and be pulled back as well.' "Um, excuse me?" Haku quietly said to Naruto "I know you have no reason to let me, but I could teach you all the things I know. Zabuza considered me at least of Chunnin level and I hope I might be of some use to you."

Naruto looked thoughtful and nodded slowly "I'll leave it up to Sasuke. He would have the greatest reason for a grudge against you, Haku. That way if he accepts you it would be one step closer to being friends instead of just tolerating an enemy."

Sasuke frowned for a few minutes as he thought things out. "Well, we could use the help and getting knowledge and some skill training from him would always welcome. Also he did get me to activate my Sharingan for the first time so I am willing to accept him for now. We can let anyone that comes from Konoha make the final decision on if he comes with us."

Team 7 and Haku heard Pakkun loudly clear his throat to get their attention. "Since you genin are going to wait for help before leaving, I shall wait here with you until your plans are set." The village militia had finished hauling off the dead henchmen and a few looked at the short span to be finished on the bridge. Tazuna was talking to a few of them and getting many nods in response. The group broke apart and Tazuna approached Team 7.

"Well, with Gato killed and his henchmen all killed or captured, the people in the village are all going to help on the bridge. With the aid of all the men there the bridge will be useable within a week. There will be a lot of time for upgrades later on but them basic structure will be up."

Sakura spoke up in answer. "It took us a week to walk here with you so Konoha should have someone here in a few days. Ninja alone can move much faster than plain walking.

The week passed uneventfully. When the youths were not standing guard on the bridge construction, they were training. Haku managed to teach Sakura several basic healing jutsu that would be good for first aid and teach Naruto several water based jutsu. Sasuke was not interested in either but copied the techniques to memory with his Sharingan anyhow. All three members of Team 7 continued on the tree climbing exercises to boost their chakra control as well as build stamina. Leaping between trees and clinging to the vertical trunks with chakra was strenuous but they improved immensely. Pakkun had un-summoned and returned to Konoha after an incident with Sakura about using similar brands of shampoo. Once the original plans had been worked out, the team had no contact with home.

The last few yards of bridge were laid with a shout and cheer by the tired Wave villagers. The 4 young ninja were in attendance as Tazuna announced the name he had chosen for the structure; The Great Kakashi Bridge.

"I wish we could stay and help out more here in the Wave but this finishes out mission." Sakura told Tsunami.

"We must head back and find out our own fates now." Naruto added.

"Perhaps your fates are closer than you think, Naruto-sama." Haku said. "That ANBU that has been waiting patiently on the mainland for the past 4 days likely has news." Team 7 looked at the shore to see a cat masked female ANBU standing there. Hoisting their gear, the team finished the walk to shore and bowed to the ANBU who held out a scroll to them.

"I am instructed by Hokage-sama to escort your team back to Konoha upon completion of your mission. In addition, the homeless ninja called Haku is extended an invitation to join Konoha on a probationary basis pending evaluation for a permanent invitation.


	7. Brother Naruto

**This one nearly became a published story. I really loved writing this beginning arc. In this, I based the Naruto character on a mix of two David Carradine roles. Kwai Chang Kain from Kung Fu and the Blind Flute Player from the movie 'Circle of Iron' The idea was of Naruto in his orange monk outfit and staff with his innate 'Naruto-ness' intact under his serenity. The other idea that played into this was from DameWren's List of 100 uses for Chakra from her Story 'Two Halves'. I had just finished reading it and loved the concept of using chakra for things other than battle jutsu.**

Brother Naruto

The Yondaime had stammered out his last wish. "See that he is treated as a hero, Sarutobi."

Sarutobi looked down at the bawling newborn the now dead Yondaime had placed into his arms. 'Five assassination attempts in just this first week alone. I know the people will not accept him, my friend. But I can at least keep your legacy in a safe place until it is time for him to face his destiny.'

"Kakashi, Rin, Tomorrow, you will be taking the child to a monastery in the hills. I must write out some letters to my friend who runs it. He will care for little Naruto. At least that way the boy will know some peace and have a small chance at happiness. I will tell the clan council that the after last attempt that the child is no longer among us. It is a convenient half truth that the people that hate for no reason will take as they wish to hear."

13 years have passed.

Brother Yao sighed softly at the mess in the monastery. 'At least he is conforming to the guidelines, Master Ping set up years ago. But even so, one day a month for pranks is wearing us out. It may take us a few days to clean up all the mess. But in spite of that, he is a good boy. He has done no real damage since he was 6. He is studious and intelligent if not a bit lazy, but that is just his youth. His self defense training has gone faster than anyone could have believed. None of us save Master Ping could touch him since he was 10 and the master only because he had been a ninja before coming to us. But, the time approaches for him to leave us. Many will be glad he is gone but somehow I feel, it will be too quiet once he leaves us.'

In the office of Master Ping, a boy in orange robes of an acolyte monk sits patiently waiting as the old man before him finished writing a letter. After completing the task, Master Ping rolled the scroll and passed it to Naruto. "Naruto today is your 13th birthday. The letter I have given you is an introduction for my old friend, Sarutobi. He is the leader of a place called Konohakagure in the forest 3 days travel east of here."

"Now, my last bit of advice to you. You must keep your heritage and status as a jinchuuriki a secret from those you do not have complete trust in. Many are frightened by what they do not understand and attempt to destroy it. You are strong but you are also inexperienced. You must be kind to them and understand that only thru knowledge does fear dissipate. Once good people see the person you are, they will not care about the burden you carry and will remain friends. Those are precious people and should always be defended. Do you understand this Naruto?"

"Hai Ping-sensei"

"Good, now remember, these are your people you are going to. Be kind to them and go easy on the pranks."

Naruto bowed and rose to leave. Adjusting his robes about himself, he picked up the small bag of food and his staff and left the office. Several monks waited near the main gate exit and bowed as Naruto passed and closed the portal behind him. Naruto was not sure but he thought he felt a sense of relief emanating from behind the closed door.

'Well, I had best be off. This will be a long journey if it takes 3 days.' Naruto walked past the fields the monastery maintained waving to a few of the monks tending them. Coming to the edge of the grounds, he looked back for a moment and then turned towards his future. Naruto jogged off down the light trail towards the forest. Only a non local would be impressed in that his speed rivaled that of a galloping horse.

* * *

Naruto looked up at the walls and massive gates of Konoha. It was still before dawn, so Naruto sat in the road and meditated until dawn when the great gates swung open to allow exit to several groups of young people with an adult in charge of them. A girl with short blue/ black hair and white eyes who had been looking down tripped over Naruto and fell on top of him. Ice blue eyes stared into pearly white ones for a moment before the girl's face turned a bright red.

"Are you all right? You fell and now you are flushed. Are you sick?" Naruto asked.

Two boys lifted the girl off Naruto as she stammered, "Gomen, I was not expecting anyone to be sitting in the roadway"

Naruto rose and smiled, "No harm done, beautiful one. But now that the gate is open, I may be about my business." His foot slid under his staff and flicked it up into his hand. A glance over the 4 people before him led Naruto to turn to the red eyed adult.

Bowing correctly to the woman Naruto spoke, "Gracious lady, who might I petition for entry into your fortress? I have been sent from my monastery to this place." Naruto pulled out the scroll Master Ping had given him. "I have an introduction from my teacher and was instructed to present it to his friend, Master Sarutobi."

Kurenai looked over the orange clad boy. His manners were certainly better than most for his age and she decided to honor that. She bowed back and gestured to the guards who were just inside the gate. "They will be able to help you."

The boy bowed and almost seemed to glide to the guards. She chuckled as none of her genin squad was near that graceful in their movements. As the team walked down the road, the girl was still lightly flushed, 'He called me beautiful'. One boy was loud mouthed and jeered as they moved out of hearing range, "did you order a boyfriend, Hinata?"

* * *

Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage was feeling old this morning. The daily routine of paperwork, long stretches of quiet and random attacks by his grandson was well engraved into his life. Nothing exciting seemed to happen anymore. The whole village was quiet this early. He stood and figured he should visit the academy again soon. Young people were tiresome at times but always made him feel better.

Even with his 70th birthday months away he knew he could not retire again. There was no one in the entire village worthy of replacing him as yet. There were many good ninja but none possessed the right will for the job; one who could stand up to that Danzo and the rest of the village elders. Two of his former students could do the job but they were not available, one due to a lack of respect by the village itself, the other by a lack of desire. Both crippled by life; one turned a perverted but a successful writer, the other merely biding time between drinking binges in her misery of loss.

A knock on the door, and a masked ANBU entered the room. "Hokage-sama, there is a boy in monk attire at the gate, with a letter from the monastery in the western hills. He is of genin age and says you are expecting him."

'Naruto, it is 13 years already?' "Yes, allow him entry and have someone escort him here. I am sure he would get lost in the village without an escort." The ANBU bowed and left. 'Naruto, I had forgotten that you were coming. Ping's letters said you were a lively one, but very capable for your age. Perhaps this is a sign of better things to come.'

Naruto bowed gracefully to Sarutobi and held out the letter from Master Ping. After glancing at it, Sarutobi looked at the boy standing before him. "So you are aware of the burden you carry within you, Naruto? That is a good thing, but you should know that the villagers will not look kindly upon you of they find out. It caused much death and destruction when it was unleashed upon us 13 years ago. One of our greatest leaders died containing it within you."

"Now, what shall we do with you? The letter was vague on what you can do and all it suggested was to put you to work. This in a ninja village; quite different from what you are used to. We could assign you to that or find you a job elsewhere. Tell me what your normal day is like at the monastery Naruto. Also, tell me about yourself."

Naruto smiled and began talking about his daily life. Sarutobi listened and a small smile appeared on his face as Naruto spun a tale of his adventures and most of all, his pranks. As the hours passed, Sarutobi had to repeatedly shoo off people who wanted to enter his office on routine business.

Suddenly, he was not feeling so old.

* * *

At lunchtime, Sarutobi had Naruto pause. Leading him out of the office, the pair walked out of the building and towards a ramen stand that was nearby. The boy kept talking the whole time, about how huge, colorful and lively the village was and all the different people. It was nothing like the places he had seen near the monastery. They were all small, drab, dirty places, populated by the sick and needy people who had a hard time scratching out a living. Once at the stand, Sarutobi had Naruto sit and ordered them each a bowl. Naruto bowed to the young woman and thanked her for the food.

After the first bite, Naruto almost was in tears of joy. He had never had food so delicious in his life and vowed that he would have this 'ramen' as often as he could. After eating, Sarutobi took Naruto on a tour of the village. Every so often, a masked ANBU would come up to Sarutobi, whisper some information and get a whispered reply. Naruto could hear them quite easily but knew that it was rude to intrude so did not linger over anything said, not that it made sense to him anyhow.

Near a wooden fence, a small boy hiding behind a tarp tried to jump at the old man with a kunai knife in hand. "Now I will defeat you and become Hokage!" he yelled. Naruto almost laughed at the ineptitude of the boy. He swung his staff out to hook it into the belt of the boy's pants and lifted the squirming child into the air. "HEY! Put me down!"

"Ah, Konohamaru, you're late today. This is only your first attack and it is after lunch" Sarutobi chuckled.

"You know this boy?"

"Yes, that is my grandson, Konohamaru. He thinks if he can defeat me in battle then he will become the Hokage."

"Hmm, that is a silly notion. Why should a small child become a leader when he has no respect for others, no ability, and no wisdom from facing life?"

Konohamaru looked at the blonde boy in shock and grumbled. "I would have had him this time if you had not interfered."

"No, your trap was poorly laid. Your disguise was obvious as the pattern on the tarp was against the grain of the rest of the fence. Plus you yelled out your intentions before you even moved. A bandit in the woods could have seen that trap."

Konohamaru gasped at Naruto as he slowly swung side to side on the end of the staff. 'Man, this guy picked apart my ambush like I was an amateur or something. He is GOOD!'

Sarutobi was impressed by Naruto's skills and analysis. Also, he had been holding the boy on the end of the staff one handed for several minutes and did not seem phased by the weight of the boy, nor did the staff seem to be in danger of cracking. "Naruto, could you let the boy down please? Run on home Konohamaru, I have some more business to discuss with Naruto."

"Hai, grandfather," Konohamaru grumbled. He ran off grumbling about how next time his trap would be better.

Sarutobi led Naruto to the academy. "This is Iruka. He is one of the instructors here, Naruto. Iruka, I need you to give Naruto a full battery of genin tests. The entire range of physical tests in all 3 primary disciplines. Naruto, I need to deal with village business and will leave you in Iruka's hands for now. Come back to see me after the tests after completed. It should be about dinnertime by then.

Iruka was puzzled by the boy in the orange monk outfit but did as the Hokage instructed. "All right Naruto, what do you know about taijustu?"

"What is that?"

Iruka sweatdropped. "Can you fight, Naruto?"

"Oh, yes, I can defend myself adequately. There are occasions when bandits would try to harm the monastery and the local towns so Master Ping felt we should be able to defend if needed."

"All right then Naturo. Can you attack me?"

"Why should I attack you? You are not doing anything hostile."

"It is for training Naruto."

"Ah, that is allowed. I have had training duty as the attacker many times." Naruto swung his staff and swept Iruka's feet out from underneath him in under a second. "Did I do that correctly, Iruka-sensei? You said to attack and I saw an opening, so I did."

Iruka got up and got into a stance. "Let's try that again Naruto, Attack please." Naruto swung his staff and somehow was thru Iruka's defenses and the teacher was down on the floor again. "Hmm, that is good skill you have Naruto. You do not follow up on your strikes however."

"Of course not, this is training. The purpose of being attacker in training is to merely get thru the defense so that the one defending learns where his holes are and can correct them."

"Interesting, now let me be attacker, Naruto." Iruka got into a stance and began to attack at Naruto in a series of beginner strikes. Naruto either leaned aside or pushed those away with his staff. Iruka then progressed to more advanced chunnin level attacks and these too were easily knocked aside. "Very good Naruto. You passed taijutsu."

"Next area to be tested is ninjustu. That is using your chakra to perform feats that manipulate the environment around you."

"What is chakra?"

"Your spiritual energy, Naruto. It is the energy that your mind and body create that can be manipulated for tasks. Do you know any?"

"Ah, I see; spiritual energy" Naruto looked around and noted the floor was dirty so he stooped down, placed his palm on the ground and said, "Clean floor." The dirt and dust from the entire room came to a small pile at his foot. "Like that Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka gaped for a second. He had never seen chakra used like that before. "How did you do that Naruto?"

"In the monastery, we have a list of skills that we need to learn with spiritual energy, or chakra before we are allowed to move to higher level training."

Iruka pondered for a moment "Let's go outside to one of the training areas, Naruto. We can try some higher level things there. Let me just tell my assistant Mizuki-san that I will be out with a new student"

A short time later, Naruto followed Iruka to a field nearby with 3 wide posts set into the ground. "Okay, this is a training area. We can try larger things here. Do you know any fire techniques?"

Naruto picked up a stick, rubbed one hand one the end he was not holding and it burst into flame. "Fire" he said to Iruka smiling.

"Um, ok. How about any earth related techniques, Naruto?"

Naruto placed his hands flat on the ground, "Plow field" and an area 10 ft wide ran out for 50 ft looking like it had just been plowed. Naruto smiled at Iruka. "I can make the longest furrows of anyone in the monastery"

"Um, yeah," Iruka shook his head. "Good job Naruto. Not what I was looking for but a good job."

"For this last one, I am going to need some help. Genjustu, the art of the mind. It uses chakra to create illusions and make the mind see things that are not there. Personally, I am not good at those. We have only a few masters of that craft in the village, but I think that is Kurenai's team over in the next area. Naruto followed Iruka to where the group he had met that morning was doing training.

Bowing as he and Iruka walked up to Kurenai, "We meet again gracious lady and beautiful one." Hinata blushed as the second time today she was called beautiful. Kurenai smiled at that and made introductions, "I am Kurenai, leader of this genin squad, the girl you call beautiful is named Hinata, the loud boy is Kiba with his dog Akamaru and the quiet one is Shino. What did you need, Iruka?"

"Well, I need some help in evaluating Naruto's genjutsu ability. I am not good at that and only know academy level techniques."

"All right, I can do that. Are you ready Naruto?"

Naruto nodded and saw Kurenai's hands move a few times and felt a tug at the spiritual energy about him. "Hmmm, strange" Kurenai muttered and repeated the hand signs. A second time nothing happened with the boy. "Naruto, did you see or hear anything?"

"I felt a tug on my spiritual energy, um chakra but other than that, no."

"Amazing, one more technique then I will be finished." Kurenai made a long series of hand signs and Naruto twitched a bit then stood quietly. "I saw a phantom that time but I ignored it and it went away." Kurenai gaped and stammered, "That was one of my best B level jutsus. No one ever resists that one. Iruka, his chakra control is extremely good if he can resist a jonin level genjutsu."

Iruka nodded and had one more idea. "Kurenai, could you have your team spar with Naruto? I tested him a bit earlier but I would like to observe him and get a second opinion from a jonin like you." Kurenai nodded and called her team over. "Okay, we are going to spar with Naruto here. No going overboard right away, start with basic attack sequences until I tell you to take it up a bit, understand Kiba?" Kiba grumbled a bit but nodded. Hinata assumed a juuken stance, Kiba and Akamaru circled around Naruto while Shino summoned some bugs from his sleeves. Naruto took his staff into a horizontal grip and faced Hinata. 'She is the close fighter. Her stance is clearly an attack one, the loud boy and his dog are circling looking for an opening, and I do not understand the boy with the bugs, that is just strange but the bug repellent skill from the monastery should work.'

Naruto noticed Akamaru trying for his ankle while Kiba came from the other side. He jumped back a few feet and tripped Kiba with his staff. The boy fell on top of Akamaru. Hinata stepped forward over the downed pair and launched a flurry of juuken blows at Naruto intending to cut off the chakra to his arms and legs but Naruto kept interposing his staff to block her strikes. 'He focuses chakra thru his staff as well, strengthening the wood and preventing it from being damaged by my strikes' Hinata thought.

At one point, Hinata lunged forward but Naruto merely sidestepped her strike instead of blocking, spun and struck the back of her knees with his staff knocking her down onto Kiba who was just rising, knocking him flat again. Shino was merely puzzled as his bugs refused to get close to Naruto said he "tasted nasty". Naruto stepped back a few paces and allowed Hinata and Kiba to get back up. Hinata shifted to a more balanced stance while Kiba tried to circle again. This time Hinata struck first, pressing forward in a balanced attack, noting that Naruto favored dodging and redirecting attacks more than striking back. Her strikes were getting closer to hitting this time as she adjusted but still she was unable to hit him. Kiba tried several times to attack from Naruto's blind side but never got to complete an attack as Naruto would move around Hinata in a dodge to continually get Hinata between himself and Kiba.

After 5 minutes, Kurenai called a halt to the spar. "Good job everyone. I saw a few things we need to work on but I think we got what Iruka needed from Naruto. Any comments?"

Shino asked, "How did you keep my bugs off?"

"It was something from the monastery, it just keeps bugs away. The fields get very bad with bugs when we fertilize so we learned to keep them away by making our spiritual, chakra. repulsive to bugs."

"Interesting technique. I would like to learn that if I may."

Naruto turned to Hinata. "Your attacks were skilled but you would always pull back or pause before you actually made your strikes. They were not difficult to defend against due to that but you have great ability. If you can overcome that, I would like to see if I could defend against you when you improve. I had much the same problem the first time I was in the role of attacking bandit during training at home."

Hinata hung her head slightly at the comments.

"Do not look down, beautiful one. You should always look up and smile to show the world your beauty. You can accomplish much but you need to believe that you can in order to do so." Hinata blushed a bit but raised her head back up. Naruto bowed and began to follow Iruka.

Kiba called out after Naruto, "How about me? No pearls of wisdom or am I just all that?" Naruto looked over at Kiba. "You are loud, clumsy and need to bathe more often. Once you learn silence and balance, perhaps you might be able to focus on learning a useful skill or two." Kurenai choked back a laugh as Kiba just grumbled and made a comment about a guy wearing a dress while Akamaru barked 'Well, you do smell'

Iruka escorted Naruto to the Hokage's tower and stopped to write up a brief report with a stat card on Naruto's ability levels. Sarutobi was waiting for their return. He looked over the report and the card slightly impressed.

"He would need more testing and evaluation to know exactly where he stands in all categories, Hokage-sama but as of now, he is definitely of at least genin level, perhaps chuunin in several areas. That monastery has some interesting training methods we might wish to find out and incorporate into our own." Sarutobi nodded and dismissed Iruka with thanks.

"So Naruto, you have impressed several people on your first day here, myself included. As I am the leader, I can offer you a place here as one of our ninja. It would not be easy, but you would be defending and helping this village by doing so." Naruto smiled, "I will do that. I will do that to the best of my ability. I would like one thing however. Can I get more of that ramen?" Sarutobi laughed. Yes he definitely was not feeling so old after all.

* * *

Kakashi was standing before the Memorial Stone the following morning. An ANBU popped in and said, "Hokage-sama wishes to see you immediately, Kakashi-san."

"I will be there shortly, thank you Yuugao-san" Kakashi took a few more seconds to stare at the monument before heading to the Hokage Tower.

Sarutobi looked over a short folder of mission reports that Team 7 had accumulated. Failing a D ranked mission was nearly impossible but somehow the team had failed 3 in the past week. Kakashi swallowed a bit nervously under his mask. This meeting was not going well at all. "It seems you are having a little trouble with your squad, Kakashi. But I think I might have a way to improve things for you. It seems we have a new genin that arrived in town yesterday. I think you might remember the boy, you delivered him to a monastery 13 years ago, Uzumaki Naruto."

Kakashi's one visible eye widened as he remembered that baby and trip. Sarutobi slid the data card Iruka had compiled across the desk to Kakashi. He read it over and looked very impressed. "What do you intend to do, Hokage-sama?"

"I propose replacing a member of your current squad with Naruto. Judging by these reports, this Kara Omi is a complete idiot and only passed the Academy due to the fact he had 5 chances to do it. Falling down a waterfall and scattering the trash your team took an afternoon to gather, pulling out the entire herb garden instead of weeding and letting a dog walk him into a security zone. How did this team manage to be the first to pass your bell test?"

"Actually, it was Omi that gave his lunch to the girl Haruno Sakura when she was tied to the post because he could not deal with her whining about being hungry then he and Sasuke shared the other one. I admit the boy has a good heart but he is an idiot and I felt the other 2 were worth the headaches."

"Well, one less headache for you now Kakashi. Also, I am the one sending him out, not you. Naruto will replace Omi on Team 7 immediately. Omi will be moved to in village courier duty. You will find Naruto at the hotel right now. He needs a place to live and some paperwork but I already have Iruka started on that since the Academy is not in session right now. Get him and take him to meet your team." Kakashi nodded once and left.

Sasuke and Sakura stood waiting at the bridge like always to find out their day's job. "D ranked missions suck." Sasuke grumbled.

"I know, but as long as we have Omi on our team I think we are stuck with them for life. Say, he is late today. He is never late." Sakura observed.

"Oh, check this out, Sakura. Now that is hard on the eyes, bright yellow hair over an orange robe. That even makes your pink hair look drab."

'_Ohhh, he did NOT just diss the Haruno clan hair. I don't care if he is all that, no one disses the do!'_ Sakura's eyebrow twitched a bit at that remark but Sasuke just smirked and his fan girl fell back into line.

Naruto finished walking up to the bridge and stopped. He merely stood and waited in silence looking at Sakura and Sasuke.

"Eh, is there a reason you are standing there staring at us, baka? If not, I suggest you find some other place to stand. This is our team's meeting place." Sasuke frowned as Naruto gave no indication that Sasuke had even spoken. "I was speaking to you, monk. Or have you taken a vow of silence along with your extreme growth of hair?"

Naruto finally spoke up,"Ah, I was not sure you were addressing me in your insult. I am Uzumaki Naruto, former member of the Monastery of the Hills now a newly welcomed member of this place. I have an 'extreme growth of hair' due to the fact that I was not a true member of the order, merely a resident. As for my being here, I was instructed by my new sensei to come to this bridge, to wait and see what happens after I arrived and respond accordingly."

"Hn, it seems another genin team is trying to pick a fight with Team 7. Well, I can oblige that." Sasuke stepped forward and made a simple punch at Naruto who leaned a few inches to the side and tripped Sasuke with his staff. Sasuke growled at missing and made to kick at Naruto but the orange clad boy was over by Sakura asking her name. "Leave her alone. Your fight is with me!"

"That was not a fight. That was a boy posturing in front of a girl he is trying to impress. Brother Chang explained such things to me a couple of years ago."

Sasuke growled louder as Sakura almost had stars in her eyes at the thought of Sasuke trying to impress her. "That's it monk boy, you're going down!" Sasuke roared. Naruto smiled slightly and stepped away from Sakura as Sasuke rushed at him. Sasuke kept pressing his attack at Naruto, but each time the orange clad boy seemed to simply dodge out of the way. Often, Sasuke found himself tripped up by the boy's staff. Sakura stood off to the side occasionally offering advice to Sasuke but not doing anything to get involved.

A voice addressed her from overhead, "Neh, Sakura, you are a ninja aren't you? You can do better than stand on the side and be a cheerleader, can't you?" Sakura looked up to see Kakashi crouched on the arch of the bridge.

After a moment, Sakura frowned and yelled, "That's right, I am a ninja too, Shaaa" followed by her rushing into the fray. Her participation only lasted a few minutes as she collapsed to the side exhausted and panting for breath.

"Naruto, why are you only defending? You should strike back at Sasuke," called down Kakashi. "But sensei, I am on defending right now."

"Here we do both at the same time, Naruto." Sakura heard this and glanced up at Kakashi then over at the boys. 'Why is sensei helping this boy and the boy called HIM sensei too? What is going on here?'

Sasuke was too involved in his attacks to notice Kakashi had arrived let alone spoken. He did note Sakura's brief entry into the fight as well as her quick exit. Chasing this orange dobe was getting on his nerves. He had not landed a single solid hit on the kid. Each time he thought he had struck a blow the kid simply was not there or deflected the blow with the staff. Sasuke was shocked when after about 15 minutes of fighting the kid struck back. A hard hit to the jaw landed Sasuke in the dirt.

A slow clapping from the bridge brought Sasuke to a halt. He looked up to finally notice his teacher. "Sasuke, Sakura, I see you have met your new teammate, Naruto. Omi has been re-assigned and will no longer be a part of Team 7." Kakashi told them. "Neither of you, Sasuke or Sakura looked underneath the underneath. Naruto simply came up and told you his sensei told him to come here and wait. Sasuke merely assumed that Naruto was a spy from another team looking to make trouble. You did not take his words into account and attacked. But this spar has been very informative. Sasuke needs to work on his patience and Sakura on her stamina."

This brought out a gasp from Sakura and a 'Hn' from Sasuke. "Sasuke, first you rushed into a fight, not knowing if the person is friend or foe and no clear plan on what you were doing. You never tried to apply a single ninjutsu and when your taijutsu was not effective you should have backed off to re-think your tactics. Sakura, you stood around with your hands clasped in front of you looking like nothing more than a helpless fan girl until you were nudged into things. Then you collapsed after only 4 minutes gasping like you had sprinted across Konoha. Naruto, you need to learn to do more than defend and try to wear out an opponent. It is allowed to strike back at your foes now. In fact, it is encouraged to do so in a fight. You are no longer a member of the monastery now. You are a ninja in training and expected to act like that. Now the three of you spend the morning talking and getting to know one another and be back here at 1 pm for a mission." Naruto bowed to Kakashi while both Sakura and Sasuke grumbled.

By the time Kakashi returned to see his team, little had been discussed. The few times Naruto tried to say something both Sasuke and Sakura turned away from him. Much however had been thought about. Sasuke tried to figure out how his taijutsu had been so effectively countered and how to get better than the orange clad boy. Sakura was wondering if others really saw her as nothing more than a useless fan girl. She knew that she was intelligent and had near perfect chakra control but was that the limit of what she could contribute. Naruto decided that since neither of his teammates would talk to him, he would meditate to fill the time. Kakashi looked down from the bridge at 2 bruised egos, 1 quiet monk and a lot of unresolved issues.

The afternoon mission was a simple garden weeding task. The genin stooped to start weeding when Naruto asked which plants they were supposed to be leaving behind. Sakura growled out they were supposed to be leaving the radishes and pull out the rest. Naruto bowed and knelt at the end of his row. He dug his fingers into the soft dirt and whispered "Weed row". The weeds down the length of the row fell over cut off at the base. Naruto calmly walked down picking up the cut plants pausing to pull a weed that was too close to the radishes for his jutsu to have sliced. His teammates both gawked and asked him how he did that. Naruto quickly showed them that is was simply a use of chakra neither had even considered before. A week full of successful D ranked missions followed.

It was very obvious to Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi that Naruto's list of Jutsu was only of Academy level. They were not very helpful for battle but were useful for stealth and general cleaning. Sakura learned them quickly as her chakra control was greater than Naruto's and Sasuke admitted reluctantly that they could be useful in a small way on D missions. Kakashi realized that the reverse of many cleaning jutsu were good for stealth. Clean Floor could be reversed to Dirty Floor and a dusty floor with footprints on it became a dusty floor with no footprints and no trace someone had been thru that place. Kakashi had Naruto spend his evenings recording all of his monastery jutsu to scrolls for the Academy and the Hokage made sure that Naruto was paid for them.

In turn, Naruto asked that the money earned be converted into seed stocks, medicines and other consumables to be sent to the monastery. The boy felt that since the jutsu belonged to them, they should receive the benefits. The only people upset with the new range of jutsu were the instructors who gave punishments at the Academy found that students with the new jutsu completed the formerly labor intensive tasks in seconds before they were banned for use during punishments.

"Well Team, it seems that we are in luck today. The Hokage decided that since we are now much better off with Naruto in our squad, he has a small test for us. It seems the daimyo's wife's cat, Tora, has escaped again. If we bring it back before 3 pm, we will be allowed a C ranked mission in the next few days. Does that sound like a worthwhile challenge?"

For decades, a Tora Capture mission was seen as a Right of Passage among Leaf genin. If you captured the cat in a reasonable amount of time, you were a team to be reckoned with. It did not matter that the current cat was Tora the Eighth. The bloodline of Tora just got tougher and meaner as each generation passed. Sasuke and Sakura both looked up at Kakashi and realized that with Naruto on the squad, they were not confined to D ranked missions that Omi would screw up on them. They looked at each other, grinned and nearly dragged Naruto along as they discussed strategy on the infamous feline and its ability to escape genin squads.

Within a half hour later, the cat was spotted and something happened that no squad had even accomplished before; a captured cat with no injuries to the genin and no property damage to Konoha. Sakura managed a minor genjutsu to hide Naruto from Tora's view as Naruto used another pair of his minor monastery jutsu to silently sneak up on the cat while masking his scent and removing it from his clothes. "clean laundry" and "tread silently during prayers" were what he called them.

A week after the now record setting Tora Capture, Team 7 was assigned their first C ranked mission. Escort the bridge builder Tazuna back to the Land of Waves and protect him from harm while the bridge is completed.

Chapter 4

Kakashi had to take Naruto to an equipment shop for basic outdoor supplies before they could leave Konoha. Shortly, Naruto was outfitted with a small backpack as well as dual weapon fanny packs since he could not wear a kunai holster on his thigh due to his robes. Naruto still had little ability in use of shuriken and kunai daggers. Kakashi thought that on a good day Naruto might be able to hit the broad side of a clan house. It was better to have them and use them for practice during slow times on guard duty. Naruto's monk robes draped over the packs on his belt hiding them from view. No apparent weapons beyond his staff would also make him seem less of a threat to any bandits they might encounter. That would give the group an added surprise if necessary.

A few days passed uneventfully as the group walked to the Land of Waves. As the road meandered thru the forests of the Land of Fire, Naruto noticed a pair of men sitting in the road up ahead. Both seemed to fade in and out of sight as Naruto would look around for others. Neither man looked like he was a bandit and both were poorly dressed with what looked like bandages in various parts of their body. "Kakashi-sensei, why are those men just sitting in the road? Should we help them?" "No Naruto. We are not going to help them. You shall see in a few minutes after we pass them. Just be ready for anything

**The story lost steam after I reached this point. I had instead posted and begun continuing on 'The Lost Ninja' and 'Captured' by this point and working on so many stories at once was already a burden. Another re-write of the Wave arc jsut seemed like too much of a hassle. The other character of Omi was basically the 'idiot' side of Naruto separated from him with the name from some cartoon show.**


	8. Seeds

The Yondaime Hokage could only stare in horror as he was too late to stop the Kyuubi attack on his village. The ball of energy shot toward the Monument and killed the man as he formed the final hand seal a split second too late. It shattered the granite face of the stone. Shards flew in all directions and cascaded down into the village. Hundreds died immediately, crushed under the stony debris. The sinister laugh of Uchiha Madara echoed out over the village.

The single word, "Amaterasu" was heard and the forests around Konoha began to burn in a black flame. By the nights end, the Land of Fire was truly a fitting namesake as the land burned down to the bedrock and sand underneath the forest.

The destruction of Konoha was the beginning of the Final Ninja War. Buoyed by the victory of the Kyuubi, Uchiha Madara destroyed the entire Land of Fire with his black flames of Amaterasu. The Akatsuki shattered as most of the members turned on the man. They had wanted to rule the Elemental Countries not to preside over a wasteland. The war took weeks but in the end, the other nations were laid waste as the jinchuuriki were brought into play to match the enslaved power of the Kyuubi. Six months after the war started it ended with the mutual deaths of Pein and Uchiha Madara. In the end, Pein used his ultimate technique to pull him, Madara and five of the tailed beasts along with their jinchuuriki into a new moon around the planet. The war ceased as there was no one left willing to fight. Scattered pockets of civilization remained but the rest was wasteland.

* * *

Year 14, AW (After War)

The traveler was bundled up against the wind. Ash and sand blew in equal measure across this part of the continent. No one dared to travel out this far into the Desert of Ash but the traveler pressed onward; driven by some unknown force in his actions. Every so often as he walked, he dropped a seed into places protected from the wind. In low areas where water would gather, he would stop and open a sealing scroll. He would cast handfuls of grass and wildflower seeds around in the hope that it might grow near the ash blackened waters.

But this planting was a mere afterthought to his quest. It was something his mother had trained him to do from the moment he could walk. He could barely recall the red haired woman but she had told him of her past and the pair of hidden villages she had called home.

The wind slowed as night was approaching. The dying rays of sun shone down through the settling ash and dust to light up a shattered mountain that still retained a pair of faces along one edge with a sharp cutoff that dropped down into a U shaped canyon that stretched for over a mile.

The traveler recognized the landmark from the stories he was told as a small boy. He pulled the goggles covering his eyes up and looked on at the scene. His blue eyes grew misty as his eyes compared the sight to what he imagined.

Uzumaki Naruto had returned to the place of his birth.

The blond looked for long minutes but the gathering gloom of night forced him to move. His information said the natural hot springs nearby would be safe enough to drink. He could see no sign of plant life so he started his search by heading for the base of the mountain.

His only indication something was wrong was when he was struck in the back of the head.

* * *

The next sound Naruto heard was low whispers as he tried to move. The pain in his head increased when he moved it and he could feel cool air on his bare skin. He knew he had been taken captive. His arms were bound behind his back and his legs were tied to the chair he was sitting in. He forced one eye open to see a stone room with a pair of girls his own age watching over him.

"He's awake," one muttered. "Go tell Kosuke-san." The other girl nodded and walked out of a doorway Naruto could not see from his position.

"Can I have some water?" Naruto asked in a hoarse voice. "I had some in my supplies so I would not need to impose on yours."

"Soon," the girl replied. "Kosuke-san instructed us to do nothing but wait until you had awakened and get him after."

Naruto nodded sagely. If he was going to be interrogated or killed it would not do to waste any supplies on a dead man.

"You may give him a small amount of water, Ami-chan," an aged voice said from the doorway.

The girl complied. She gave Naruto enough to wet his mouth but only let him swallow a small amount. The girl left immediately afterward.

An old man with an artificial foot and a weathered face pulled another chair close and sat in front of Naruto.

"One of the scouts found you in the ruins. You seem much too young to be a relic hunter. Who are you and why are you here?" the old man asked in a hard voice.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, son of Uzumaki Kushina. I was told by her many times that this is the place I was born. I came to see it for myself," Naruto replied.

"Uzumaki Kushina. I knew her. A beautiful girl with long brown hair if I recall correctly," the old man mused.

"She had fiery red hair and a temper to match," Naruto replied.

The old man chuckled. "Indeed. You have at least met the girl I knew if you knew that much. But you being born here is still debatable," Kosuke said with a slight smile. "Your answer has kept you alive a little longer."

Naruto nodded. He knew how outsiders were treated by villages. Few were allowed entry into fortified places and rarely accepted. Food was too scarce to do more than trade for items salvaged from the wasteland.

"I did not mean to intrude on your settlement. I was not even aware there was people this far out in the Ashes," the blond said.

Kosuke nodded slowly. "Barely, but we manage to survive. A few dozen of us hold on in this place. We can barely call it living but survival is enough for some."

"I can trade for clean water. I have supplies," Naruto started to say when a hand was raised in front of him.

"I looked through your supplies. You have nothing in your goods we could use at the moment," the old man said directly.

"I have a wide variety of plant and vegetable seeds. They are worth a great deal," Naruto said feeling slightly desperate. This was not going well and he knew he might be on the verge of death.

"In any other place, yes they would be. However, we have sufficient stocks of food, water and seeds to do quite well. We have a different problem here," the man said sadly as he moved behind Naruto.

The blond closed his eyes and waited for the end. To his surprise, he felt the bonds on his legs loosened and removed. Then a headband was dropped onto his lap. Naruto opened his eyes to see his mother's Konoha headband laying there. That meant these people had the ability to seal and unseal his goods. They used chakra and knew of the ninja arts. His mother's headband had been in the deepest most secure part of his storage scrolls.

"You are indeed your mother's son if you can seal that well. But I have many decades of experience that you lack boy. So your best is difficult for me to crack but not foolproof," Kosuke said. The man turned to the doorway next. "Ami-chan, gather everyone in the main hall at once."

The sound of hurrying feet on bare floor sounded and more scurried along behind into the distance.

Kosuke helped Naruto to stand but made no motion to untie Naruto's arms or hands. Naruto took a moment to look at himself. He had been stripped down to his boxer shorts and everything he had concealed on his person had been removed. He could tell that even the emergency garrote he kept hidden in a certain area had been removed. A chuckle sounded. "They are all well trained in the ninja arts even if they have little reason to use them here," Kosuke said sadly as he led Naruto down the hallway.

"If the people here ever leave, they would be best served by keeping that ability hidden. Being caught as a ninja now is not quite a death sentence but they are cast out of towns. After the last war destroyed the world, people want nothing ot do with ninja," Naruto said softly.

"We have little information from the outside but that has been made clear to us," Kosuke replied in a voice choked with emotion.

"Everyone is here, Kosuke-san," Ami said when the man and blond entered a room. Naruto could see several dozen people in the shadows of the poorly lit room

"It was a civilian shelter that survived the attack on Konoha. The few ninja to survive the battle took refuge here along with the pregnant women and children who were already here. They kept us alive through the Week of Black Fire. The ninja managed to expand the place and make it livable for all those who lived but it was close. The excavated greenhouses from the rocks about and installed skylights and mirrors to bring light after the power failed. We survived even if we did not thrive."

"Four years ago, we were attacked by a small band of rogue ninja. We were many more at the time but their skill was better than ours. A traitor we had cast out returned and allowed them access to this place during the night. They killed all the ninja but me since I was outside on a long patrol. By the time I had returned, all the people over age 14 were dead. All the male children were dead. The nursery was silent. Those monsters were busy raping the remaining girls," Kosuke recited in a bland voice.

All around the room candles were lit and Naruto could see the people.

"I killed the enemy but the damage was done," the old man said softly.

Of the roughly forty other people in the room past him and Kosuke, none appeared more than a few years older than Naruto. He could see two or three small children just past toddler age but he quickly realized the rest were all girls between ages 7 and 18. He wondered how much longer he had to live.

**Comments: This was another plot bunny that had nowhere to go atthis point. It would have ended up as some kind of harem fic after this. My original thought was something along the lines of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome but I had little inspiration past writing out the concept start.**


	9. NaruIno

Change happens in the smallest ways. It begins with a single motion and cascades as the surroundings are affected. The change for one Uzumaki Naruto, aged 18 years, came in the form of a mission scroll currently in the hands of the Godaime Hokage; Tsunade.

Tsunade grumbled as she read the mission request from the Daimyo. He needed a pair of ninja to pose as a married couple for an undetermined amount of time but no less than six months. He had solid rumors of a rebellion being pushed near the border of the Fire Country and one of the small states near the Lightning Country. The entire area had been a battleground in the Fourth Ninja War barely a year before and was still being reconstructed. The small country was taking care not to be found fermenting a rebellion but stood to gain a large amount of resources should the neighboring province secede from the Fire Country.

The requirements for a mission to that area were steep. The ninja involved should be young but adults and be able to fit in without standing out too much. Older people would not be seen as potential recruits for a rebellion. Tsunade sighed at reading that. The region was once she had travelled in a few times and she knew how the people looked. A large percentage of the locals were blondes. Konoha was suffering from a lack of natural blondes in the appropriate age range. She only had two.

"Get me Uzumaki Naruto and Yamanaka Ino, at once," she commanded.

* * *

Yamanaka Ino was humming as she worked in her family greenhouse. She enjoyed working with the flowers and it calmed her mind. One thing the intense blonde girl needed was calm. Her experiences in the recent war had not harmed her physically but the end result was one she wished had never happened. She was now worked mainly in the family florist business and a part timer worker for T&I.

A knock on the door of the greenhouse ruined her calm.

"Yamanaka Ino, the Godaime requires your presence," the chunin messenger said.

Ino sighed but acknowledged the order and the chunin left. The blonde woman cleaned up quickly and dressed in her ninja gear. She was curious at why she had been summoned but knew the Godaime would not call her without reason.

Shortly, Ino stepped up to the office door and Tsunade's assistant Shizune pointed for her to enter. Looking around as she entered, Ino noticed Naruto waiting there with a look of impatience on his face.

"Ino's here now, Tsunade baa-chan. Now what is this mission about?" Naruto grumbled out.

"Gee, well hello to you too, Naruto," Ino snarked out at the blonde man. She took a moment to look him over. He had grown a few more inches since returning from the war reaching a height of about 5'9 with a lightly muscled build. The largest change was the fact he had allowed his hair to grow out more and it now resembled that of his father the Yondaime Hokage.

Ino had found out about Naruto's heritage by accident during a mission with her former boyfriend Sai. Several other people in their age group knew it now but no one really talked about it. To them, it was not as important who he was related to as who he was on his own. The same attitude came in handy when Root records revealed Sai was the bastard son of Orochimaru. Ino had already been broken up with the emotionally stunted boy by then but they remained friends.

Tsunade glared at Naruto before looking back to Ino.

"Ino, I have a mission request from the Daimyo. At this point accepting it is optional as it has a number of requirements. The pair of you fit those requirements best but let me explain before you decide to accept it or not."

Ino nodded so Tsunade continued.

"The Daimyo's intelligence unit has heard rumors of a possible rebellion in the north. The rumors are that some people are planning to carve out a new country that includes the small border countries between Fire and Lighting, the Land of Rice Fields as well as a few of the Fire Country's northern provinces. There is no major population center in that area of the Fire Country so a revolt would make it much harder to hold onto the northern lands."

"The mission is to send the pair of you undercover to scout out the rebellion and identify the leaders or if possible defuse the situation without bloodshed. I do not expect the last but it is an option to explore."

Ino nodded slowly while Naruto looked thoughtful.

"What kind of cover, Tsunade-sama?" Ino asked almost fearing the response.

"The details are in the scroll but we want the pair of you together not separate so you can back up one another. Since the region is still rebuilding from the war, medical experience and general labor are in high demand. Ino's non chakra based medical training and certification as an herbalist would be in demand as well. Her knowledge and skill with plants would give her a solid job growing medicinal herbs to go along with her training. There are several rare varieties that grow there naturally so cultivating them commercially would be a solid reason for any ninja to travel there to purchase some and for reports. A small hot house would be easy to assemble and grow less capable herbs."

Naruto noticed Tsunade not quite meeting their eyes as she talked.

"And the part you are leaving out, Tsunade baa-chan?" he asked.

Ino looked at Naruto then back to the village leader.

Tsunade glared at Naruto again and spoke clearly.

"As Ino is a young and attractive young lady, to avoid local complications you will pose as a married couple," Tsunade stated.

Ino barely kept herself from dropping her jaw in shock at what the Hokage said.

"Me and Naruto … married?" she asked in a cautious voice before muttering under her breath. "Geez, if she asked Hinata the girl would have died of apoplexy from being so excited."

Tsunade smirked as she heard what Ino muttered while Naruto was still in shock and did not seem to hear.

"It would not be a legal thing but as far as the mission goes, you would need to live together and act married," the Hokage stated.

"So how married _are_ we supposed to act, Tsunade-sama?" Ino asked cautiously.

Tsunade smirked at the tone of the question and all the things Ino had meant in the asking.

"Enough that someone looking you over would think your were legitimately married, Ino," the Hokage commanded. "I'll let the pair of you work out those details on your own."

Ino frowned as she knew she was backed into a corner. She could refuse the mission but she would get a mark on her record. It would not be a written one but the Hokage would know. Still of all the people she had to pretend to be married to, Naruto was one of the least objectionable. He would play the part of a dutiful husband to the hilt. It was in his nature to go all out for a girl or mission. At least he was easy on the eyes. She knew she would not have to sleep with him but the thought was not beyond her fantasies in the past so she could fake it.

The idea of starting an herb business was an intriguing one and Konoha would be footing the bill for it. She was good with plants from her years at the flower shop and she knew that Naruto had something of a green thumb. The boy had several plants of his own so he understood the basics of gardening.

"I'll accept the mission if Naruto does, Hokage-sama," Ino said after thinking about it.

Naruto glanced at the blonde girl beside him and accepted the mission.

Ino nodded once Naruto accepted them turned to face him.

"Understand this, Uzumaki. I'll sleep next to you and I can forgive some cuddling in your sleep. But if you have any thoughts of getting into my panties on this mission lose them now. The closest you will get to that is if you are stealing a new unworn pair and putting them on as your sexy girl jutsu, got it?" Ino stated with eyes that seemed to glow with demonic fire.

"Yes ma'am," Naruto whimpered out.

Tsunade chuckled and dismissed the blondes to prepare for their mission.

* * *

Ino walked back to her parent's flower shop slowly. She had been thinking about her future as a kunoichi for weeks now. She recently turned 18 and knew she could now be tapped for seduction missions. She had some training back in the Academy but that was general knowledge and actual seduction kunoichi took on additional training.

Her thoughts strayed to what civilian girls her age were already doing; getting married and starting families. She wondered what it would be like from time to time and this mission would be a small glimpse into that world. She would still be a ninja of course and be playing at being a civilian herbalist and wife to a man but even the playing was 'real' in the extent that she would be living day to day as a civilian would. She could do much worse than Naruto as a fake husband.

She sighed as she pushed open the door to the flower shop and saw her mother waiting to be told about the new mission.

The older Yamanaka nodded at the details her daughter could divulge and turned to the back of the store with a motion for Ino to follow.

Ino was surprised by the fact her mother had not said anything against the mission and simply went along with things. In the furthest corner of the storeroom, the woman pulled out a number of old and worn seed starter trays.

"If you are going to be starting a business and be believable, you cannot have all new equipment. These old trays would be something a former apprentice would have starting out as a gift from their master. They would get one or two new items as a gift as well but most often old but workable is the way to go," Ino's mother said.

"Mom, what about the rest of the mission? The part dealing with Naruto. Does that bother you?" Ino asked.

Ino's mother looked at her with a wan smile.

"Honey, you have been a ninja for six years now. I expected you to be assigned to more than a single mission involving seducing men in your career until now. The fact that both have included Naruto in some fashion doesn't surprise me in the least," the woman said with a chuckle.

Ino blushed heavily at the implication of her mom and the one horrendous mission as a genin she had with Naruto came flooding back into her mind. The nearly failed body double mission she had tried so hard to forget was not something she wanted to think about now.

"Mom, I am not seducing anyone on this mission," Ino complained.

The older blonde woman chuckled again and decided a bit more needling was needed here.

"You never know. After all, you are going to be 'married' to a stud muffin who happens to be one of the most powerful ninja Konoha has ever produced and is the son of the Fourth Hokage. If I wasn't married to your father I might have a go at him myself. But should I be expecting grandbabies when you return?"

Ino turned a glowing purple that reached Hinata proportions for epic blushing. She could not figure out which part bothered her more; the fact that her mom felt Naruto was hot or the fact that after her mother mentioned it she had pictured herself pregnant with a doting Naruto by her side.

Ino's mother walked off laughing. Child baiting was a gift that kept on giving and got more fun as the kids became adults.

* * *

Several days passed as Ino gathered the supplies she needed to set up a herbalist shop from nothing. The seeds she planted in the starter trays had already begun to show signs of growth for the fastest growing herbs. The village was supplying them with a cart and some basic needs but the cover business would succeed or fail based on the efforts of Ino and Naruto. Ino's father, Inoichi showed the boy how to build planter boxes and to identify basic herbs along with their uses for medicine and cooking.

Naruto surprised everyone by knowing more than expected. His own efforts in the past had taught him a lot about caring for plants so he could help out and limit Ino's need for an outside assistant for the business..

Before they knew it, Ino and Naruto were on their way north pulling a cart laden with supplies and an undercover mission.

**Comments: I have always wanted to do a Naruto / Ino pairing but I wanted one that seemed possible as well as being more Ino centered than NAruto centered. This idea has merit but when I got as far as an outline, the underlying plot concept turned out very weak.**


	10. Immortality

"Immortality from time looping is not all that the fox said it would be,' Naruto thought as he opened his eyes and looked around. He turned out to be 13 this time. At least he did not have to live through potty training again.

Each time the fox sent him back to relive his life he ended up at a different point. He stopped counting after it had happened one hundred times. Each life was different from the last but always after the fox had been sealed into him. He had awakened once to hear his parent's last words to him and even once he had awakened as an old man who died seconds later. It got quite boring living the same thing over and over so he tried to make each life into something unique.

He had been with every girl he had ever known at one point of another. He had even bagged Tsunade once or twice. One of his more favorite incidents of all his lives had been when he had awakened the morning the Sand Siblings first arrived in Konoha. Temari had turned her nose up at him when he just snapped his fingers and a perverted jutsu he had learned a few dozen lifetimes earlier found a use. Her panties suddenly were teleported off of her and into his hand. The 'eep' and blush of the blonde teen was the sole bright spot in that very brief lifetime. Gaara had crushed him to death seconds later.

As the cycles grew in number he eventually learned more jutsu than Orochimaru could have ever dreamed of and most he really didn't care for. Jiraiya alone had developed over one thousand that he knew and each lifetime the pervert surprised him with creating new ones. Heck, he could make any girl his willing love slave with a single touch behind the right ear and applying of the right frequency and amount of chakra. He had done that to all the girls in his graduating class once. The loop after he had learned it, he was fed up with the cries of 'Sasuke' the fan girls would chant. But explaining to the Hokage three months later why nearly a dozen 12 and 13 yr old girls were calling him 'Naruto-sama' while pregnant with his children was something he did not want to repeat.

Beyond girls, he had a decent relationship with most people he cared to know over his lifetimes. All of the people except for Sasuke. He had done more to help that ingrate in any life than he had done for himself. He had saved Sasuke's family from Itachi countless times, prevented the curse seal, stopped the defection. But no matter what Naruto tried, the boy simply refused to have a decent and happy life. In spite of aiding Sasuke, the boy ended up working for Madara more often than not. It was always this or that issue cropping up. Naruto had finally just left the Uchiha alone to be miserable each time.

He looked at the date on the calendar over his bed. This time he woke up on the morning before Jiraiya would take him on his training trip. He could at least make it a lively morning as he put himself on autopilot to prepare the things he would need from his limited supply on hand.

He chuckled lightly. This time he would turn back at the last moment and kiss Hinata instead of look at the monument of his dad. Maybe whisper something about how he loved strong girls and that he hoped she would be able to defeat an S ranked ninja upon his return while hitting her with an orgasm jutsu. Hinata always surprised him after his trip when he did things to inspire her before leaving.

He picked up his pack and headed for the door to make the best out of this next lifetime of his repeating immortality.

* * *

**Comments: Just a short take on an isolated scene Naruto could have by looping back into his own lifetime. Consider it an omake and it is not going to be continued. Also writers could consider the idea of Naruto looping back to a random point in canon each time instead of to a consistant point.**


	11. Woman

The final attacks between Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke collided and an explosion of energy. The two men were both thrown back bleeding and on the verge of death. Haruno Sakura had only looked on as both of her male her teammates had done their best to defeat the other. She had to make a decision. She could only save one of the dying men at her feet. She looked from one to the other and made her choice.

* * *

Sakura knelt down over to the broken blond man lying with his arms crossed over his chest. Her mind flashed back to the time she claimed to have love for Uzumaki Naruto; that cold day in the Land of Iron's mountains. She had botched things badly and nearly lost Naruto completely as a result.

She had performed enough medical ninjutsu on Naruto for his own healing to kick in and wake the blond. The now cooling corpse of Sasuke lay beside them as they were waiting for other medics to arrive at the battlefield.

"Why Sakura? Why let Sasuke die instead of me? You love him Sakura!" Naruto said in a weak voice.

Sakura looked at Naruto's cut and dirty face and gently brushed the blond locks from his eyes so she could look deeply into them.

"Naruto, back in the Academy, Sasuke was the dreamiest boy there. He was cool, handsome, rich, mysterious and talented. I crushed so hard on him on him like most of the other girls there. He was everything I wanted in this world."

"You had none of those things to my eyes. All I saw you had was boundless self confidence."

"Over time I learned many things about you Naruto. You are kind, generous, and selfless to the point of being suicidal. You want to make the people you care for feel safe and protected. You are loyal to Konoha and to the people in it in spite of all the things done to you over the years. You make people better just by being around them."

"Naruto, in spite of my wishing things would never change from the days of Team 7 they have changed. You promised me that you would bring Sasuke back for me that day he ran off. I couldn't hold you to that any longer because I don't love him."

"I love you Naruto."

"You shouldn't lie to yourself, Sakura. I told you that already," Naruto began but Sakura silenced him with a finger on his lips.

"I'm not lying to anyone Naruto. Not to me, not to you. Yes, Sasuke was everything I could ever want at one time in my life but there is one fact you don't see."

Uchiha Sasuke was everything I ever wanted as a girl."

"But you, Uzumaki Naruto, are everything I could ever want as a woman."

**One possible ending to a Final Battle between Naruto and Sasuke where Saruka makes the choice who lives and who dies. The choice of which one she loves more. In this case, then Better Man is chosen over the Better Boy.**


	12. MIO Fight the Tropes

**Random trope bashing follows**

* * *

Naruto stood looking at the devastation in the aftermath of the Fourth Ninja War. Many of his friends lay dead around him, including Sakura and Sasuke. The Kyuubi was whispering in his ear a jutsu that would allow him to go back to the past and relive everything after his graduation from the Academy.

In his grief, Naruto decided that he would do just that. He carefully drew a seal on the ground. He practiced the forty two hand signs needed to accomplish the jutsu. Just as he felt he was ready to make the jump to the past, a flash of light exploded in front of him.

Before him there stood a pair of men. One looked like a native of Lightning country and the other was looking as old as the Old Man Hokage. Both wore sunglasses and bright orange suits. Naruto took up a defensive position and drew a weapon as the men simply stood there.

"Are you Uzumaki Naruto, son of the Yondaime Hokage of Konohagakure no Sato in the Land of Fire?" the older man asked in a firm voice.

Naruto was wary but slowly replied. "Yes, I am," he said in a wary voice.

The other man spoke to the older one. "Voice print matches physical scan. It's him," the dark skinned man said.

The older nodded and suddenly pulled out a weapon to point it at Naruto. It looked sort of like a tonfa but without a shorter piece. Naruto assumed it was a hand weapon of some kind when he was hit with a flash of light long before he could react.

Naruto was pushed back by the impact and crumpled to the ground bleeding heavily. He looked up at the two men who stepped up on either side of him dying body.

"Why? I was only going to save my friends lives. I could prevent this from happening and make everyone happy," he whispered out as his voice weakened over the course of his comment.

"No," the darker man replied. "You aren't seeing the big picture. Think of all the lives you destroy by your selfish act. Uncounted billions of lives wiped out by your thinking only of yourself and disrupting time. All you Uzumaki are alike no matter which timeline we have to clean up. Sorry it has to be like this. All you blondes seem like decent guys."

Another flash of light separated Naruto's head from his shoulders. Even the highest powered regeneration couldn't fix that much damage. The older man pulled out a small device and looked at it. The lights on it went from a flashing red to a steady green.

"This one is stable. One more messed up timeline locked down. Where to next, W?" the older man asked.

"The next one is a half dozen trying to make a group time jump into the minds of their younger selves. Upstream two years and eight timelines over, T," W said.

The Men in Orange vanished in a flash of light.

* * *

The Sandaime Hokage looked into the ANBU cell containing what looked like three teenage civilian girls. The girls were gibbering among themselves apparently excited about something. One of the girls waved wildly at him and smiled.

"INF, rglr ua rgw Gijlfw," the girl said in a happy sounding tone.

Sarutobi pulled back as if some attack was coming his way and left the room.

"They sound like fan girls that chase after young Sasuke-kun but I can't understand them. Any luck with the papers they had on them?" he asked.

One of the ANBU came up with a hand written page.

"It was s simple letter replacement cipher. All of their papers were in the same code. However the contents are rather … disturbing," the agent said with a shudder.

Sarutobi took the page and slowly read the opening page. It described a Konoha in the future. He was dead and his student Tsunade was the Godaime Hokage. As he read he page, he broke out into a sweat. He shook his head and looked at the operative.

"Are all the writing they have like this?" the leader asked in a shaky voice.

"Some are worse, Hokage-sama. Apparently these girls think that every male in Konoha is gay and lusting after Uzumaki Naruto. If the rest of the writing is true, they come from an alternate dimension and our world exists only in a written form called a manga. They had no copies of this 'manga' with them but one of the girls had written of her dissatisfaction that Uzumaki-kun was not gay in them. Her writing has Uzumaki-kun having forced sexual relations with many men and somehow becoming pregnant in spite of being male. He would then be madly in love with his rapists"

Sarutobi shuddered once more but the agent continued.

"These girls somehow found a magical way of coming to our world thinking they would be made into ninja on nothing more than their word and causing the things they put in their writing to happen," the masked man said barely keeping his own composure.

The Sandaime looked firmly at the ANBU operative.

"Destroy these pages. Destroy the translations and dispose of those … fanatics. We would never simply allow foreigners to appear and become ninja with no background in the arts. Not to mention their plans for a child. Even the worst villager is kinder to the boy than that. Take care of this quietly," the Hokage ordered as he left.

The girls shuddered under the killing intent the aged leader directed at them as he left.

The ANBU quickly destroyed the writing and the translations. They were about to execute the trio of girls when a flash of light caught their attention. A pair of men in orange suits and sunglasses stood where the light had flashed. The ANBU pulled out weapons

"Gentlemen, we'll take it from here," the older man, T, said in a commanding voice. The ANBU pulled weapons and got ready to attack as the darker skinned W held out his hand holding a strange tube that flashed.

"Gentlemen of the ANBU, you did your duty and the captives were disposed of and the bodies destroyed. You are a credit to your village and your Hokage," T said to the stunned operatives.

W freed the teenage girls and moved them over to T.

"Ladies, you are going home now. When you get there you will not recall your little adventure here. You will not recall anything related to magic portals or the means to create them. If you see such things in the future you will regard it as foolish and not attempt it," T said sternly.

"Yeah, and ease off on the writing. Find something healthier to write about than having multiple men gang rape a preteen boy. Even prison is not that cruel to people. Maybe get into Twilight or something," W added in.

"Twilight?" T asked as they vanished with the girls. "Can't you turn them onto something decent?"

"Maybe, but you have to admit, sparkly vampires with no weaknesses are kind of gay to begin with," W said. "We can't get them to stop completely at least they can hit something that already fits their inclination."

T shrugged at the Men in Orange vanished in a flash of light

* * *

Note: The Men in Orange are a temporal version of the Men in Black. MIB deals with aliens while MIO deals with temporal anomalies, time travel and cross dimensional incursions.

"INF, rglr ua rgw Gijlfw" to read shift text one letter to the right on your keyboard. L wraps around to A. "OMG, that is the Hokage."


	13. Kidnapped and Hiding

Set during Naruto' training journey

Tropes Used: Divergence Point, Naru/Hina, New Jutsu

* * *

Jiraiya frowned as a slug found him peeping on an onsen in the border country between Fire and Lightning. The darn thing would tell Tsunade on him. But then the slug huffed in relief at seeing the Toad Sage.

"Jiraiya-sama, I bring word from Tsunade-sama," the slug said in an off tone voice.

The white haired man just looked at the creature for a moment before responding

"What is the message?" he grumbled out.

"Enemies have captured Hyuuga Hinata from her clan's compound and have been seen travelling in this direction. They are heading toward the Cloud village. I was instructed to alert any Konoha ninja along their estimated travel path. I also was asked to send this particular minor body to you to explain things, Jiraiya-sama," the slug informed the man.

Jiraiya was surprised as the slug told him more of Tsunade's theory. Relations with the Cloud village had been quiet for the past decade but it seems they still wanted a Hyuuga and their bloodline. Hinata was an unsealed female so with proper medical jutsu they could use her as a monthly source of fertile eggs. They would not risk her with a pregnancy but rather do something to her mind to prevent her from committing suicide. They would be able to extract her monthly ovulation with little risk and use in vitro fertilization to create a viable fetus. The fetus would be implanted in a Cloud woman specially selected to carry that child to term.

Jiraiya frowned deeply as the Katsuyu finished. He would need to get involved in this and in doing so break cover for him and Naruto. It was too important not to. He headed toward the inn they were currently staying at without even a glance back at the onsen.

* * *

Meanwhile, Naruto had been out in the nearby forest practicing his Rasengan control. Jiraiya arranged for the teen to fell an area of trees with a woodcutter over the next month during his practice. The boy got to destroy things with his jutsu and provide a service and money for their journey at the same time. 'A win all around' Jiraiya had said.

The blond teen watched as another large oak tipped and fell into the open area the woodcutter had asked him to work around. The hard wood of the tree along with its age had provided a challenge for his power and control. Jiraiya had stressed that he do minimal damage to the wood as he cut out the bases of the trees so control was very important in this exercise. For his training, Naruto had to generate his chakra in a flat disk like a circular saw to slice through rather than drill through the trees

The sight of a number of Cloud ninja carrying someone past him was quite unwelcome. He looked at their retreating backs and noticed the girl they had been carrying. Long dark hair was not recognizable to him but the girl's face and lavender coat was. They had his friend Hinata! Naruto immediately set off in pursuit.

He closed in quickly as the kidnappers could not move at top speed with their burden. They had relaxed slightly as they were out of the Land of Fire and Konoha's political reach. They never saw the ambush until it was sprung. A wave of orange jacketed blonds descended upon them and stopped them with sheer numbers as opposed to great skill.

The horde of shadow clones piled on the unsuspecting Cloud ninja. The one holding Hinata found his prize wrenched from his hands as the press of bodies was holding him down. Seconds later, clouds of chakra smoke burst around them. The sight of a hundred blond teens carrying off a hundred copies of the Hyuuga girl was not to be believed. Several others shouted 'Kai!' as they tried to break a genjutsu only to watch as the pairs scattered in al directions. The members of the team were beginning to pursue but each time any of the jonin caught a couple of fleeing ninja, the pair would disperse into chakra smoke.

* * *

Miles away by now but not knowing he was heading in the wrong direction, Naruto looked for a place to hide and examine Hinata. He might not have been the most attentive student but he knew something was at work keeping her unconscious. An abandoned farmhouse would do for the moment as he paused to send in a number of shadow clones first to recon the structure. When it was found to be what he thought it was, he carefully unbound his friend and tried to release any jutsu in effect on her.

When that did not work, he was forced to physically examine her. He goggled for a moment at the size of her breasts before putting aside perverted thoughts to do the job he needed to do. Head was clear, chest and hara were clear, neck. Ah, there it was on the back of her neck. A paper seal was pressed onto her neck. Her gently peeled it off of the girl who moaned as the embedded jutsu in the paper was deactivated with its removal.

Naruto did not know how long it would be before Hinata woke but he carefully fixed her clothing and zipped her jacket closed once more. The zipper reached full closure when Hinata's eyes snapped open and glared at him while her fingers came up to strike his arm with a jolt of chakra. The girl rolled away and took up a ready stance until she recognized the blond in front of her.

"Naruto-kun? What is going on?" she said in a fearful voice. "I was heading for my room after practice then I was here."

"You must have been kidnapped, Hinata," Naruto said in a puzzled voice. "We are on the border of the Land of Lightning. Some guys with Cloud headbands had you captive."

"And we will again once we deal with you, you meddlesome kid," growled out a bass voice from the doorway.

Naruto knew he was not prepared to fight. He had just a simple kunai on him and he had noticed no weapons at all on Hinata during his once over. This Cloud ninja had full weapons load with a big sword on his back as well. A wave of shadow clones burst into view and attacked the man in the same fashion the group had been brought low earlier, by sheer numbers. A swift sweep of the blade, destroyed all the clones but Naruto had Hinata out of there and fleeing with her over his shoulder this time. Neither one noticed his hand gripping her buttock tightly to not lose his hold on her.

The jonin chuckled as he noted the boy was still fleeing in the direction he wanted to escapee to go. He could play cat and mouse with the boy until he dropped. This blond kid was interesting after all. No sense in wasting a potential resource for FOG. Time and time again, Naruto tried to flee with Hinata but each time he attempted to change direction, the Cloud jonin was there to herd him north again. Hinata could do nothing but hold on as her chakra was slow to return without solid rest. She did note Naruto's hand gripping her bottom after a time and flushed a deep red but said nothing about it.

Naruto burst from the forest into a small local market town and once more sent a horde of shadow clones in all directions. Many fled out of the village while Naruto paused to rest. They hid in an unlocked room in a laundry shop she pointed out. Hinata found clothes in the closets and nodded as those would help with her plan.

Hinata knew she would be caught in a short time unless she took an extreme measure. Her father had taught her several jutsu to commit suicide with but as with any of that type, they were untested. She might not completely destroy what the Cloud wanted to harvest from her body. That left a secret clan jutsu her mother had taught her for hiding. She could perform it for Naruto as well but it could mean a great sacrifice on her part.

"Naruto-kun, give me your kunai and open up your jacket so I can get to your bare chest and lie on the ground," she commanded. "Hurry! This will save our lives." As a stunned Naruto looked at her, she grabbed his kunai and repeated herself, "Hurry or they will find us again." The tone of command she used was something she had never pulled off before and so totally out of character that Naruto hurried to comply after she repeated it.

"This will hurt, Naruto-kun but it is necessary. Please do not more a muscle because I have at most ten minutes to do a procedure that can take an hour," Hinata told him. Fighting back bile, she began to carve hurried but perfect kanji and seal formations into the flesh of Naruto's chest. Naruto only flinched slightly but kept still as Hinata worked.

The blond teen looked at the intensity on the girl's face as she deftly carved symbols into his skin with the kunai's point. He had never seen a look like this on her before. The look she had during the fight with those bee users from Rock was not even close. He trusted her completely for no other reason than she had never hurt him in her life. She had been quite kind to him during the missions they had together before his training trip began and she was kind of pretty.

"Naruto, if you could be anything else in the world besides a ninja, what would you do?" she asked him as she continued her work with the kunai.

Naruto was startled by the question but answered. "Um, a cook I guess. I love ramen and all so I would want to be around it all the time," he said almost eagerly.

Hinata flinched a bit as Naruto's reply. It fit his personality but it was so base a desire. She had hoped for better but she did not have time to argue the point.

"So, if you were to create a ramen cook, what would his name be?" she said in a tight voice as she was past the hardest part of her work. She knew Naruto was in pain but he was doing what needed to be done. If they got out of this alive, she would do something special for him.

"I never thought about ever having a different name," Naruto said. "I have imagined a different life a few times but never was anyone but me, you know?"

"I understand Naruto-kun," Hinata replied as she was nearly done. "Maybe the name Roshi would be a good one?" she suggested. "Use that in one of the imaginary lives you came up with to escape he bad things from yours."

"Roshi the Ramen Cook, huh?" Naruto said. "I used to imagine lots of friends and people liking me as a kid. I never had many as a kid."

"I bet Roshi could be more than just a plain ramen cook, Naruto. I think he could be a chef if he put his mind to it."

"You think so, Hinata?" Naruto asked in a sincere voice.

"I think he could be the Kage of Chefs, Naruto-kun. Now, this is where you need to trust me one more time and do not fight against what is going to happen. Imagine being Roshi. That you are Roshi; the ramen cook's apprentice who will be the best chef in the Elemental countries one day. And that your girlfriend Tsukiko is by your side," Hinata finished with a small smile.

'And I hope you can forgive me for this, Naruto-kun,' she thought as she cut her palm and let a couple of drops fall onto Naruto's bloody chest.

"Hyuuga Forbidden Suppression Technique: Bloodline Hidden in Plain Sight," she whispered as she held the seal of the Hare against Naruto's chest. Chakra smoke exploded around Naruto and when it cleared, a teen of similar build and features to Naruto lay there. But his hair was now a light brown. His now hazel eyes where visible when they opened before they closed again as Naruto passed out. His most noted feature, his whiskers, had faded out of view completely.

Working quickly, Hinata striped Naruto of his ninja clothes and laid out some of the plain clothing she found in the next room. Hopefully, no one would miss these simple clothes. She found clothing that would fit her as well and piled it with the clothes she had chosen for Naruto. She stripped down to her underwear before laying next to him.

'I am Tsukiko, orphaned daughter of a merchant, girlfriend to Roshi,' she thought as she went about supplying the other needed information for the technique of her mother. She cut her palm enough to bleed and smeared the blood on a web of small lines carved into her armpit. She murmured the jutsu once more and disappeared in a puff of smoke. When it cleared, the girl looked vaguely like Hinata. Her long lustrous blue-black hair was now simply a dull black and when the girl opened her eyes in shock before passing out, a plain blue-gray iris appeared instead of the normal Hyuuga eyes.

* * *

Roshi groaned as he felt terrible. Where was he? The fumes in this place were awful and made his head spin. He noted he was only dressed in his underwear as he looked for his clothes. The girl snuggled up next to him was in a similar state and his mind provided her name Tsukiko; his girlfriend. He gently nudged her until she stirred and looked around with bleary eyes.

"Roshi-kun?" the girl said in a small voice. "I think we should get out of here before we get caught again. Making out around these fumes must have made us pass out."

Roshi just nodded in his semi-confused state and went along with his girlfriend. That very word sent shivers of happiness down his back. His head would most likely clear once they were away from this place.

Tsukiko smiled at her boyfriend. He was sort of goofy but she cared for him. She had a vague sense of duality as she knew they needed to make their way to the Land of Fire where her remaining relatives lived. Bringing home a boyfriend from the Land of Lightning might not be accepted but she felt she could make them see he was a good man.

In the depths of her own mind, Hinata slipped off to sleep as Tsukiko took complete charge. Her last thought was of a nice life with Naruto / Roshi as a husband which echoed in Tsukiko's mind as the dark haired girl flushed slighty.

* * *

The scanner ninja looking for the escapees frowned as he lost track of his quarry completely. He narrowed them down to being back in the town the team had passed. Those shadow clones the blond put out were messing with him too much to get a clear track close up. He was not too worried however. Even if they could suppress their chakra, there was no way a Hyuuga could walk out of the Land of Lightning without getting caught.

* * *

**Notes:** This kernal really did not have much of a chance at growing. It was simply written out and filed away. It was left behind in favor of 'Split'. The remaining premise is that the jutsu hides all bloodlines as well as the person's chakra and main personality so they cannot give themselves away. While it is active, the bloodline is inaccessable even to the point of children not having it. The cover persona will follow the self programmed wants of the ninja. Yes, it leaves them vulnerable but most ninja believe civilians beneath notice. Release is tied to accomplishing the goal set or by a certain amount of time has passed. Hinata adding her blood to the mix activated the seal and gave Naruto a darker coloring instead of an alternate blond look. Hinata's own mother had carved a more compact version in Hinata's armpit when the scar tissue would not be noticed. A downside to the jutsu is that if the conditions are not met for its release then it never will be. Naruto and Hinata will never wake and Roshi and Tsukiko would live on in their places. Also, I know Hinata is very out of character in this but when faced with enslavement and unspeakable futures, she would rather risk never coming out of this than being forced into a life as a breeder. She apologised to Naruto for not telling him of the possible outcomes to this means of hiding.


End file.
